The AP Editorial Wire

The title of this AP wire story, Bush Speech to Frame Re-Election Agenda caught my eye. I though it odd to characterize the State of the Union Speech like that. I clicked the link to see if someone was quoted as saying that.

The copy is so blatantly biased, you quickly forget the subtle bias in the headline:

Restricted by record budget deficits that blossomed during his administration and approach $500 billion, Bush has little room to propose costly initiatives.

But he will urge Congress to make recently enacted tax cuts permanent over the next decade and will push for action to deal with the rising cost of health care, White House aides say. He will revive his contentious plan to allow younger workers to invest a portion of their Social Security (news - web sites) taxes in the stock market.

Bush is not expected to use the speech for tough talk on national security. He did that last year in laying out the case for war against Iraq; the year before he branded North Korea (news - web sites), Iran and Iraq an "axis of evil."

I don't know that anything in the article is wrong. I am sure re-election counts heavily in the speech. But it is presented not as the SOTU. It is presented that those crafty Republicans have staged a political infomercial to interrupt the Iowa Caucus:

Bush will step into the election-year debate Tuesday night with a nationally broadcast speech. It is wedged on the political calendar between Monday night's Iowa caucuses and the leadoff presidential primary in New Hampshire on Jan. 27.

Too sensitive?

Posted by jk at January 17, 2004 11:02 AM