An adequate withdrawal by mid-year 2006 could neutralize Iraq as the overriding issue of the mid-term congressional elections.

A month from now, if Katrina is still dominating the headlines, he really is in bad shape,

The front line is everywhere there is someone with an explosive.

He really came into his second term with a series of robust proposals, and he's accomplished none of them. His circumstances have shifted dramatically.

How much is this going to be a national election? Clearly, the Republicans will hope it's not. ?All politics is local will be their mantra.

I don't think this is going to be one of those historic State of the Union messages. When people talk about new initiatives, they cost money. He's run out of wiggle room there.

I don't think they're necessarily better than some past administrations in terms of the spin. What they have done which distinguishes them ... is how close-mouthed they are.

I don't want to call it only cosmetic, because these things do have an effect, but how profound the effect is, that I would question. Much of this is not about policy, it's about motion. It shows that they are responding; that they are moving.

If he loses two houses of Congress, or even one, the last two years of his presidency are toast.

By never having used a veto, either everything has gone his way--which is never true in this world--or he's been able to reach an agreement. When politics gets into this range of right and wrong, religion and morality, it is increasingly difficult to compromise.