State of Union analysis: Nation is anxious
Americans have deep worries in final year of Bush presidency

ANALYSIS
By Tom Raum

updated 10:42 p.m. ET, Mon., Jan. 28, 2008
WASHINGTON - The state of the union is anxious.

In the eighth and final year of George Bush’s presidency, Americans have stomach-clenching worries about a recession, soaring fuel costs, huge budget deficits, the war in Iraq, fighting in Afghanistan, a showdown with Iran, global terrorism — the list goes on and on.

It’s a far different world from the one in which Bush first took the oath of office in January 2001. Then the U.S. had a budget surplus, its armed forces were not in active combat and the new president’s approval rating stood above 60 percent.

Now, his approval ratings are near the lowest of his presidency, in the low 30s.

Bush is seldom mentioned on the campaign trail by GOP candidates, who are nonetheless quick to invoke the memory of Ronald Reagan. They make it sound like Reagan was the last Republican president, passing over the terms of both Bush and his father. It seems unlikely the president’s campaigning help will be much in demand this fall.

“I believe they (GOP candidates) feel that the public has made its judgment on Bush, and that judgment is negative and it’s not going to change,â€