As the first president to win a majority of the popular vote in 16 years, and presiding over a government now thoroughly in control of the Republican Party, President Bush laid out an ambitious agenda for the remainder of his tenure in office. His bipartite agenda sought major economic reforms at home and the furtherance of the War on Terror through the support of democracy abroad. Under pressure from lawmakers across the aisle as well as many in his own party, Bush, who has never vetoed a spending bill from Congress, promised a return to traditional conservative spending habits.
Largely ignoring socially conservative social talking points such as abortion and gay marriage, Bush chose to begin his speech with Social Security reform — unquestionably the most pressing and partisan issue on his agenda. The President spoke at length about reforming a retirement account system that has remained virtually untouched in the past seventy years. Yet with Harry Reid, the Senate minority leader, boasting that he has enough votes to stymie the reform bill on the floor of congress, it is highly doubtful whether his goals can be accomplished.
The war in Iraq and the fight against terror were by no means ignored. Riding high from the relative success of Iraq's first free elections in over 50 years, Bush praised the Iraqi people for their courage and resolution to establish a permanent democratic government.
The President also expressed the hope that the success of democracy in Iraq might spread to other countries in the region, including Syria and Iran, two nations, which he specifically labeled as sponsors of terrorism and threats to national security. Bush laid out an aggressive and, at times, over-weaning agenda that clearly seeks to leave a mark on history. Jordan Rodriguez is the communications director for the College Republicans. He can be reached at jrodrigu@princeton.edu.
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