The State of the Union address by President George W. Bush last night accomplished what, I suspect, every President has tried to do since George Washington delivered the first one in 1790: He reached for the high ground, captured it, didn't dare anyone to take it from him, but invited everyone to join him up there.
To use a Texan construct: With this speech, the President eyeballed the Congressional Democrats, rounded them up, put them into a corral, and the President rode off with the key to the gate in his pocket.
When he said he could sum up his entire economic policy in one word: Jobs, that was the sound of the gate locking behind him.
For long-time Congress watchers, one of the most telling moments was a Republican President calling the name of one of the most liberal Congressmen in the Chamber - George Miller of California as he recounted the bi-partisan education bill.
And the obvious delight on Mr. Miller's face was worth the price of admission.
There was a sense, watching this speech, that President Bush feels good about the country he leads. When he opened the speech with the phrase "Yet, the state of our Union has never been stronger" he meant it.
It seemed to me, watching on television, that the President's favorite line was: "It was as if our entire country looked into a mirror, and saw our better selves."
It is a good leader who makes his people proud of him. It is a great leader who makes his people proud of themselves.
The Washington Post released its State of the Presidency poll (taken in conjunction with ABC News) yesterday which, like almost every other poll, showed President Bush with an 83% approval rating.
The headline in the Post poll was: "Bush and GOP Enjoy Record Popularity," with the lead:
"President Bush delivers his State of the Union address tonight enjoying a historic level of public support for his leadership and for his Republican allies in Congress�"
I only bring this up to contrast it with a New York Times/CBS News poll released on Sunday, which the Times headlined: "Poll Finds Enron's Taint Clings to G.O.P. more than Democrats."
It wasn't until the fourth graf when we finally found out, almost as an aside, that "President Bush's impressive approval rating of 82 percent has not diminished since the terrorist attacks."
One wonders how much deeper in the story some in the Times city room wanted to bury that disturbing fact.
Those "impressive" approval ratings are not the most interesting numbers in the polls. Here's the potentially most important question in the Post/ABC poll:
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"Please tell me whether the following statement applies to Bush or not: He understands the problems of people like you"
Yes: 61. No: 37.
This is important because the Democrats have - and with Enron still are - working very, very hard to tie Bush to Big Business in the mind of the American public. If the Bush Charm Offensive, such as we saw with the Tom Brokaw special last week, continues to catch on, this is excellent news for the White House because it provides a buffer against bad news.
A reporter at the Post told me that number might have been inflated by the position of the question within the poll. But, he agreed with me: If this number holds up in other polls, then we are looking at Franklin Delano Roosevelt numbers for George W. Bush.
As promised I spent the day at the MSNBC Mother Ship in Secaucus, New Jersey on Monday. Former Gore/Lieberman campaign press secretary Doug Hattaway and I sparred about once an hour except for the 12 to 1 pm slot. The White House press briefing, which MSNBC carries live, ran over and through our time slot.
As we walked off the set, Hattaway said unhappily, "Bumped, by Ari Fleischer."
"Again." I said.
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