President Bush began his State of the Union address Tuesday by invoking the name of one of Maryland’s most famous politicians, the late Baltimore congressman and Mayor Thomas D’Alesandro, and complimenting D’Alesandro’s daughter, Nancy Pelosi, on becoming the first female speaker of the House.
But if the names were intended as a charm to ward off criticism from Democrats, now in charge of Congress, and Marylanders, now in the top two posts in the House, the incantation was not as effective in Republican hands.
“Mere words by the president are not going to get the job done,” said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Mechanicsville, in a prepared statement.
Later Hoyer added that the speech was the most “subdued” State of the Union address he’s ever heard.
“Although I believe that the president has convictions,” he said, “I thought it was not delivered with a great deal of confidence. I think that’s because he knows the American people don’t believe that he’s changed course and don’t believe the course he’s articulated tonight and he’s previously talked about will work. It hasn’t worked in the past.”
It was “a very classy move” to mention Pelosi and her Baltimore connections in his speech, said Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Cockeysville, but things went downhill from there.
The speech lacked substance, he said, and Bush’s health care ideas are “a tax increase for middle America.”
Rep. Al Wynn, D-Mitchellville, called the speech “more of the same,” with too much emphasis on foreign policy and not enough meat in his domestic proposals.
President Bush’s address was his first to a Democratic Congress. Democrats took control of the House and Senate after the November 2006 elections, largely riding a wave of public disapproval of the war in Iraq. And although other issues were discussed, Iraq dominated the president’s address, and Bush asked for support for his “new strategy.”
“Every one of us wishes that this war were over and won. Yet it would not be like us to leave our promises unkept, our friends abandoned and our own security at risk,” Bush said. “Ladies and gentlemen: On this day, at this hour, it is still within our power to shape the outcome of this battle. So let us find our resolve and turn events toward victory.”
The president said he was convening a bipartisan special advisory panel to work with him on Iraq solutions.
Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Baltimore, answered the president: “Well the fact is that it’s what the president is doing, really, that’s exacerbated the problem and everyone will tell you that,” he said, adding that he heard earlier in the day from the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who told his Armed Services Committee that the war could last another eight to 12 years.
Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Kensington, agreed with the president that something must be done in Iraq, but it might not happen Bush’s way.
“He wants a blank check,” Van Hollen said after the speech. “But times have changed and that’s not going to happen. We look forward to working with him and finding a new way forward.”
Freshman Rep. John Sarbanes, D-Towson, said he was “disappointed” in the speech, particularly as it concerned Iraq.
“He still is apparently not hearing the American people and even what his aides are telling him,” h