bush readies state of the union address

from national post: President George W. Bush will be walking into the lion’s den tonight when he delivers his annual state of the union address to a joint session of Congress.

Not only will he be face a sea of Democrats who have made it plain they will fight the president’s plan to escalate U.S troop levels in Iraq. Bush will also have to face a growing and worrisome number of Republicans who say they will oppose the president on Iraq.

Even as he put the final touches on a speech aimed at building American support for a troop surge in Iraq, Bush learned Monday that a group of senior Republican senators will introduce their own resolution condemning the deploying an additional 21,500 soldiers...

White House press secretary Tony Snow gamely tried to spin the 2007 speech in advance as Bush’s best ever.

"It's like looking at a drawer full of diamonds," Snow said, provoking laughter from reporters who had asked him to provide early highlights. "It's difficult to figure out which is the best."