President Bush’s annual State of the Union address Tuesday night was structured to rebuke criticisms from Democrats campaigning for presidential nomination and set himself up for re-election, campus politicians said.

Joshua Reicks, president of ISU College Republicans, said he was not surprised by the speech.

“Bush has always had one eye forward and one eye on re-election,” said Reicks, senior in political science.

One of the dominant subjects of the speech was the war in Iraq.

“The work of building a new Iraq is hard, and it is right. And Americans have always been willing to do what is right,” Bush said. “Because of American leadership and resolve, the world is changing for the better.”

Bush said the capture of Saddam Hussein was an important step in America’s resolve to secure the safety of Iraqis.

“The once all-powerful ruler of Iraq was found in a hole and now sits in a prison cell,” he said.

Hannah Schoenthal-Muse, senior in liberal studies and president of ISU Democrats, said she is not confident in Bush.

She said although she agrees the United States still faces the possibility of terrorist attacks, the biggest risk of attacks comes from Iraqi people who are unhappy with the way the United States has handled the rebuilding process. in their country.

Bush also said he was pleased with the effects of last year’s tax cuts.

“The tax relief you passed is working,” he said. “These numbers confirm that the American people are using their money better than the American government would have and you were right to return it.”

Bush has long credited his tax cuts, which were formed after the economy slumped, with bringing the economy back to a healthy level. Bush has asked Congress to make the cuts permanent.

Schoenthal-Muse said Bush offered the tax cut plan to help create jobs after millions of Americans had lost their jobs because of a sluggish economy. The cut was only partially successful because the number of new jobs weren’t as many as proposed, she said.

“I think it’s BS,” she said.

Reicks said he has a different view of Bush’s tax cuts.

“Any person with a lay knowledge of economics knows that cutting taxes helps the economy,” Reicks said.

He said cutting taxes traditionally helps the wealthy more than the poor. Bush would like to add spending, which would help the poor as well, but Congress would never approve of such funding, Reicks said.

Robert Lowry, associate professor of political science, said he wasn’t surprised by Bush’s move to make his tax cuts permanent.

Lowry said Bush’s petition confirmed suspicions that Bush had always planned to make tax cuts permanent, even though he said they would be phased out during the next 10 years.

He said he believed the economy bounced back because of normal economic cycles, not as a result of the tax cuts.

“At the minimum, you’re leaving the dirty work of fixing the tax problem to another administration,” Lowry said.