EDITORIAL BUSH'S BEST FACE WITH MANY THINGS GOING BADLY, PRESIDENT OFFERS AMERICA AN OPTIMISTIC VIEW OF THE FUTURE.

IN his State of the Union speech Tuesday night, President Bush played to his strengths: His unbounded confidence in America and its future and his unwavering commitment to freedom and democracy across the globe.

A lame-duck president facing midterm congressional elections with his public approval ratings low, Bush played it close to his vest on a wide range of domestic issues, offering no major initiatives.

``The state of our union is strong, and together we will make it stronger,'' Bush declared even as he touched on growing public concerns about the policies and direction of his administration.

While Social Security reform, health care and many other domestic issues were only touched on, Bush answered critics of his policies on Iraq with his unequivocal commitment to see the War on Terror through to victory.

One of the few unexpected pronouncements in Bush's address was when he said the nation is ``addicted to oil'' and that he would call for cutting imports and developing new technologies like ethanol so that in 20 years America might only need a quarter of the oil it now consumes.

There were words of hope in the speech - tax breaks for health care costs and thousands of new math and science teachers - but such troubling issues as the loss of tens of thousands of auto industry jobs were largely glossed over.

If there was much lacking in the president's speech, what of the Democrats?

Freshman Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine offered the Democrats' alternative, attacking the Bush administration for enacting bad policies and managing the nation's affairs poorly. Sounding a lot like conservatives of the past, he talked about competency and common sense, about trying to solve the problems Americans face.

But he, too, lacked concrete alternatives and did little in the way of answering the No. 1 issue of our time: Global terrorism.

In essence, both sides played to the nation's desire to find unity but neither hit a compelling note that is likely to achieve that.

Bush was right in saying that ``to confront the great issues before us, we must act in a spirit of good will and respect for one another.''

He said he ``will do my part,'' but there was nothing in the speech to suggest that he will back off his ideological beliefs. And there was nothing in the Democratic response to suggest that America is about to enter an era of civil public discourse.

And that is something that ought to worry us all. We are a nation divided against ourselves in far too many ways. This is a time when we all must have a high tolerance for the uncertainties we face, and a high tolerance for each other's point of view.

That is the real state of the union, and we will see in the coming months if our leaders will reach out and bring us together.