[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i.l.cnn.net/cnn/2008/images/01/28/art.bush2.gi.jpg caption=" President Geroge Bush on Air Force One."]
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
All eyes will leave the campaign trail briefly tonight and turn to President Bush as he delivers his final State of the Union Address. With just 12 months left in office, this is typically the last time a lame duck president manages to get everybody's attention.
The speech is expected to be about half domestic and half foreign affairs - the big topics to be the economy and the war in Iraq. He'll talk about improved security in Iraq, and other international hotspots like Iran as well as his efforts to jump start the peace process in the Middle East.
When it comes to the economy, there's not much good news to report. A possible recession, the housing collapse and sub prime mortgage mess, a falling dollar, rising unemployment, inflation at a 17 year high, the stock market in pretty much of a nosedive since the first of the year. Not pretty.
The president will call on Congress to finish that economic stimulus package quickly. But that may not happen. Democrats in the Senate are now reportedly trying to add their own list of additional items to the bill despite warnings from the White House not to.
The White House insists this speech will be forward-looking, and not about his legacy. And perhaps that is a good thing. The president's approval ratings have been terrible for several years now. And there are dozens of unanswered questions about the legality of a lot of what he's done while in office, but no willingness on the part of Congress to do anything about it.
Here’s my question to you: With 12 months to go, how can President Bush salvage his legacy?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
James writes:
He's already established his legacy: broken borders, broken banks, broken laws, broken schools, broken trust in America, and a badly broken oath of office. He picked up where Reagan left off and the U.S. is well on its way to third world status. That's what we get for electing an actor and Cheney's marionette.
Alexa from Lovettsville, Virginia writes:
In a word nothing. He should just pray to God that he doesn't get impeached in the next 12 months.
Adam writes:
Jack, Only history can determine what the legacy of President Bush will be. With the war in Iraq on the upswing, his biggest "flaw" has yet to officially fail. Certainly his popularity has dwindled to a small group of hardcore conservatives, but when has Mr. Bush cared what polls and approval ratings think? He's going to stay consistent with his message and I, for one, applaud him for doing so.
Jay from New York writes:
Let's see, in order to salvage his reputation, President Bush would have to catch Osama bin Laden, end the Iraqi war, turn around the economy, and then put himself and his entire administration in prison for war crimes, lying to the American people, obstructing justice, and outright theft. Then he might go down as merely the worst president we have ever had in the history of the republic. His presidency has been a smug, incompetent, devious mess and, as far as I'm concerned, he hasn't got a legacy to stand on.
Jon writes:
Is this a trick question? He simply cannot salvage it. If you have a car and it's totaled, it's totaled. The same goes for this presidency… The best he can do is sit back and let it mercifully end.
Jamie writes:
Bush can save his legacy just like another infamous U.S. leader with these words "I shall resign the presidency effective at noon tomorrow.”