A Presidential Address

President Bush gave a special nationwide address this afternoon, and he did a good job! Theexclamation point is because it wasn't expected. Maybe he should speak more often.

The basic message was Iran must not support terror, and the United States will stay the course. No big news here, and no need to go into detail here as the newspapers will go into the content - such as it was. (It was really motivated by the current fragile cease fire.) The purpose for this type of speech is presence and impact - and here he did the job.

Bush is much better as a teleprompter/reading speaker - one of the few prople who are better there than speaking more extemporaneously and naturally. Although he did handle his Q&A well too, surprisingly with only a few ums and ahs, his presence was convincing in his voice and face, with no smirks or side glances. He was serious, and it worked.

And he has to do something - just today Bush's poll figures are at 33% approval rating, lowest they have ever been.

The Presidency is a 'bully pulpit' as Teddy Roosevelt coined it. The smart ones use it as that, even if they can't bully very well.