Embattled Bush seeks new ideas to inspire the nation

Embattled Bush seeks new ideas to inspire the nation
By Francis Harris in Washington
(Filed: 30/12/2005)

President George W Bush and his advisers were yesterday reported to be planning a 2006 relaunch, emphasising a newly cautious White House.

With the critical annual state of the union address to Congress only weeks away, aides are already hammering out versions of what the president will say.

However, the speech is expected to contrast starkly with Mr Bush's 2005 state of the union address, which promised an extremely ambitious programme of domestic reform.

...But another adviser summoned to the meetings said the chance of resuscitating a battered administration were very limited. "This is an exhausted administration," said Michael Tanner of the Right-wing Cato Institute. "It's going to be very hard for to come out with a big new initiative."