My gut level feeling:  President Bush did a very good job delivering this State of the Union address.  He was serious and strong; complimentary of his political rival--and new House Speaker--Nancy Pelosi; and he leveled with America.  He addressed the elephant in the room--the troop "surge" in Iraq--but did not neglect other key issues such as health care, immigration, energy, education, and the federal deficit.

When he speaks to America, Bush is typically well received.  Virtually every time he has taken his arguments on Iraq to the people, he has seen his poll numbers improve.  Why he has not done so regularly since his re-election is beyond me.  Did the country's response to his handling of Katrina sting him enough to force him into a self-sustained bubble?  Did he think that his victory over John Kerry meant that he'd won the argument and no longer needed to keep his constituents in the loop?  Whatever the case, I am convinced that much of the country's fatigue over Iraq is due to a CEO who did not keep his board of directors--the American voters--informed and engaged.  If you do not talk to the people about what you are doing, they will assume you are doing nothing.  When American warriors are dying, that perception is politically lethal.  Mistakes will be forgiven.  However, perceived inertia as the casualty count mounts will not.

President Bush needs to be aggressive.  He needs to win the American public over again.  They are the ones paying the taxes that fund this war.  It is their sons and daughters whose lives are on the line.  And if the polls are correct, the large majority of them do not approve of the President's proposed "troop surge".  The President serves at the pleasure of the people, not the other way around.  If he wants their trust again, he must earn it.  He must fight for it.  The tone of Tuesday night's State of the Union address seems to indicate that he realizes this.  However it is the tone of the next few days that will tell the tale.  Bush and his allies--few though they are these days on Capitol Hill--need to mount a full-court press.

No let-downs.  No turnovers.  It's crunch time.  Pick up the ball and drive it home.