U.S. President George W. Bush's State of the Union address on Jan. 23 was meant to be about domestic policy, but he may use it as another push to sell his unpopular new Iraq plan, the Newsweek magazine said.

Although the flagship address on Capitol Hill is still days away, it already seems to have been overshadowed by Bush's address on Iraq last week, according to an analysis posted on Newsweek's website Thursday.

Facing strong opposition from Democrats and wavering GOP lawmakers on the new Iraq plan, the White House aides are viewing next week's speech as a second chance to convince the American people of the dangers of leaving Iraq.

The speech will no doubt be timely: Democrats have tentatively scheduled a floor debate early next week on a symbolic resolution condemning Bush's troop surge, with some lawmakers threatening to go further by cutting funding for the war.

Administration officials had hoped that Bush's address to the nation last week would buy him time and patience from the American people on Iraq.

But recent polls find a nation still skeptical about the president's handling of the war and the chances of victory.

A USA Today/Gallup poll released Tuesday found that 59 percent of those surveyed oppose the troop surge-- a number virtually unchanged since last week.

At the same time, Democrats don't look eager to turn the attention away from Iraq.

While Bush still hopes to talk about subjects other than Iraq in the upcoming State of the Union address, Democrats have selected newly elected Senator Jim Webb to deliver their party's response to the State of the Union.

Webb, an outspoken critic of the war, has a son serving in Iraq and had recently quarreled with Bush at a White House reception.

Without releasing many details, administration officials said Bush's speech will focus on issues where he believes he can compromise with the Democratic-led Congress.

But analysts said there is one issue where compromise has thus far been elusive: what to do about the war.

Source: Xinhua