Bush Domestic Agenda Stalled by Three Issues: Iraq, Iraq, Iraq

Jan. 23 — -- With negative approval ratings rivaling those of Jimmy Carter in the midst of the Iran hostage crisis and of Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal, President Bush will push a domestic agenda tonight that may never see the light of day.

Political experts from all sides say that all three hot-button issues -- health care, global warming and immigration -- will likely face resistance and not resuscitate an ailing presidency.

Heavy on Americans' minds are three other key issues -- Iraq, Iraq and Iraq.

"It's the giant issue that seemingly overwhelms everything else," said Norman Ornstein, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. "The caveat is that Iraq might cloud out all the other issues and so poison the atmosphere that Congress doesn't do anything else."

A CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll released Monday found that 34 percent of respondents approved of Bush's job performance, while 63 percent disapproved. Two-thirds said they were angry with the president.

Surveys show that Carter received a 26 percent approval rating in 1979, and Nixon had an even lower rating (24 percent) in August 1974, just before he resigned.

Tonight, viewers will see a starkly different tableau as they watch the State of the Union address. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., takes the seat behind Bush. Pelosi has sharply criticized Bush's handling of the war.

With low approval ratings, the president will struggle to make compromises with Congress on any one of his domestic issues. "I think all of them actually have a shot at bipartisan support but not in the form he'd like," said Ornstein.

Bush's plan for health care reform is the most contentious and has fired up the health care industry, AARP and the trade unions.

The administration has outlined a plan under which those with expensive health care plans would pay higher taxes, with revenues going toward tax incentives to allow lower income Americans to afford health coverage.