Pundits React to Issues Presented in Bush's Address

Michael Munger, a political science professor at Duke University, said he thinks Bush presented a strong speech for a first-year president. "If you compare it, for example, to Clinton's first one, (Clinton) was in a difficult position," he said. "His first year in office there had been a bunch of significant setbacks."

Munger said Bush's speech was not as partisan as other presidents' because of its focus on foreign rather than domestic issues.

"Some of the new things, like the two years of volunteer work, are different from the traditional Republican approach," he said. "In some ways, he's done what Clinton did and take a middle ground where it's hard to say what the partisan line is."

In his speech Bush asked Americans to devote two years to volunteer service to strengthen the nation.

Munger said volunteer service is -- in theory -- an easy thing for Bush to promote, especially since he is not calling for a draft. "I think most people will support it in principle," he said. "I doubt that many will go for it formally."

Munger added that he thinks Bush was correct to emphasize foreign policy. He said he expects people to support Bush's call for civilian support in the war against terrorism.

UNC political science Professor George Rabinowitz said he thinks Bush focused on foreign policy because that is the area in which he has garnered the most attention. "I think it was politically desirable to focus on foreign policy because that plays to where his surge in popularity came from," Rabinowitz said.

Bush's speech also singled out North Korea, Iraq and Iran as three nations actively seeking weapons of mass destruction.Rabinowitz said Bush cited the three countries to alert them that the United States is concerned with their behavior. He added that mentioning the trio gave Bush a chance to gauge world opinion about future actions in the war against terrorism.

But Munger said Bush is wrong to lump the three countries together as terrorist threats. "The metaphor is the Nazi-Japan-Italy coalition in World War II," he said. "That's a gross exaggeration. I doubt there is an alliance."

Munger also said he does not anticipate wide support for military action against the countries Bush cited in his speech. "I really can't imagine the United States unilaterally attacking Iraq, Iran or North Korea the way we did Afghanistan," he said.

Though Bush's speech did not center on typical issues, such as the economy, there was praise for his handling of an unusual political situation.

"Normally (the president) has to make a political speech introducing new initiatives, but Bush is in a position that is pretty much unique," Munger said. "I can't think of a president who's been in this position his first year in office. Instead of saying, 'Here's what I'm going to do,' he can say, 'Here's what I've done.'"

The State & National Editor can be reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.