President Bush delivers his State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress Monday on Capitol Hill in Washington as Vice President Dick Cheney and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi listen.
President Bush’s eighth and final State of the Union address Monday was reminiscent of his previous addresses to some students and experts in the greater MSU community.
“It was a speech that reminded me of the last six or seven he’s given,” said Ed Sarpolus, vice president of EPIC-MRA, a Lansing-based polling company. “There were a lot of repeated issues.”
Bush continued to emphasize supporting American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, the war on terror, making tax cuts permanent and cutting down legislative earmarks.
“Unfortunately, it hasn’t distinguished anything from his previous speeches,” said Emily Mixter, secretary of the MSU Democrats. “I think any Democrat is very glad that this will be the last Bush State of the Union speech.”
Still others supported Bush and his vision for the country. Ben Morlock, president of the MSU College Republicans, said history will “judge (Bush) more fairly.”
Morlock credits Bush with guiding America through the uncharted area of international terrorism, which will give the president a “legacy.”
“He’s been directly on point when it comes to the defense of the nation because we’re dealing with a threat like we’ve never dealt with before,” Morlock said. “I’m just happy we have somebody with such great resolve and comprehensive understanding of the issue as our commander in chief.”
Sarpolus said the speech served as a finale, rather than to lay out policy for the coming year.
“He rallied his troops, he pitched the bait, but it was pretty much a farewell speech,” Sarpolus said.
Biochemistry sophomore Elizabeth Cholakis said while Bush’s tenure was marked by idealism, his shortcomings aren’t much different from other politicians.
“Bush has accomplished things, but it’s kind of like every politician is overshadowed by the things he promises, and I don’t know if he met all of his promises,” she said.
“I don’t know if anyone does.”
Students weren’t concerned with the issues as much as they were with this being Bush’s final speech. And for those students, that was a good thing.
“I’m happy to see Bush go,” education freshman Lukas Darnton said.
“I have fairly liberal views, and I disagreed with a lot of his points of view.”
Zoology sophomore Andrea Cohen said she usually doesn’t watch the State of the Union address, but was pleased it was Bush’s last speech.
“I think it’s time for change,” she said.
But despite students’ dismay with Bush, Sarpolus said the president has learned a few things in his nearly eight years in office.
“You saw tonight he’s trying to save face, to put a good face on everything he’s done,” he said. “He’s learned he can’t explain away what happened since Sept. 11.”
Staff writer Marilyn King contributed to this report.
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