Address Will Depict Bush as Above PoliticsBut still beneath contempt. Okay, okay. Cheap shot. Back to the story.
According to Bush advisers, this is the gist of his speech, which will have solemn passages with an overall tone of optimism:
We are a nation at war. My bold decisions have made America safer, but we are not yet safe. At home, my administration's policies have made us better and more prosperous. But I am not satisfied, and Congress must pass more of what I have proposed.
The speech will begin with a tour of the world, including a claim by Bush that the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq made the nation safer. Advisers said Bush plans to make a big point, in the speech and during the campaign, of Libya's decision last month to surrender its chemical and biological weapons. Many in Bush's circle contend that the decision was spurred by the confrontation with Saddam Hussein, and see the agreement as a prize to compensate for the absence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
