WASHINGTON, Jan. 17 (UPI) -- When President George W. Bush turns to the microphone at the U.S. Capitol Thursday to deliver his inaugural address people should expect neither brevity nor the soaring rhetoric that one day will be carved into marble.
First, the White House says the president's remarks would constitute a "historical marker" of where the country stands in the new century in relation to its ideals and the world and where the administration intends to take us. That will certainly take more than the 135 words George Washington delivered in his second inaugural address to lawmakers gathered in Philadelphia.
Second, no one can predict the lasting effect of even the best-crafted or most promising phrase, especially in second inaugurals. Abraham Lincoln's self-composed "Malice towards none" touched the soul and resonated into posterity. But who remembers the "new American emancipation" or "mountains yet to climb" of Ronald Reagan's second inaugural speechwriters or Bill Clinton's "land of new promise?"
And third, even the best of intentions and slickness of phrase may not be able to cut through the acrimony lingering from November's election, Bush's first term and a deepening political divide among people in the United States.
"Look, he's way past the point where he can reunite the country, and I'm not saying it's his fault -- it takes two to tango," Larry Sabato, head of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, said. "There are some people who don't want to be reunited.
"(And) normally an inaugural is used to inspire. But it's tough for a second term president to do that."
Trevor Parry-Giles, political communications professor at the University of Maryland, sounds a similar view. Bush entering his second term, he said, still faces the challenge of political polarization.
"There will be some noise in that direction (unity and bipartisanship) but I don't think it will be reflected down the road. Frankly, with (Republican) control of the Senate and the House, and one might argue the Supreme Court, there is no reason for them to worry about it except rhetorically it may make them sound a little better."
The partisan rancor in the country isn't far from sight. Democrats last week were quoted by a newspaper as readying a united front to oppose Bush's second-term agenda, especially in relation to the matter of Social Security reform. Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., blamed the Bush administration Sunday of reinforcing a negative tone on Capitol Hill by resubmitting judicial nominee Democrats either rejected or stonewalled before.
Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., has denied Bush's re-election in any way represented a mandate for his policies.
"When you ask the voters why they voted, virtually all of them disagreed with the president on every major social issue but for the question of the war on terrorism," Durbin said Sunday. "No American president has ever lost in an effort to be re-elected in the midst of a war. President Bush was re-elected by virtue of one state, Ohio, a plurality of 118,000 votes. Otherwise, we'd be swearing in President Kerry this week."
Actions of dissent will replace words Thursday. As Bush delivers his remarks and later watches the traditional inaugural parade, thousands of anti-Bush demonstrators plan to march, turn their backs on him and jeer where they can in downtown Washington.
Even the idea traditional inaugural festivities for a Bush second term have become the grist of partisan and anti-Bush politics. Some Democrats have criticized the inaugural balls, parties and parade, citing their cost and the fact they are taking place in wartime.
The cost for Bush's inaugural festivities could be up to $40 million, but those costs are being covered through private donations.
Bush's inaugural planners have at least one special event for U.S. service personnel, and defenders note inaugurals are more than the celebration of one person's election, they are a celebration of elective political continuity in the country and should be celebrated.
So what then will the president say come Thursday? Much of what he has said for months, rephrased, repackaged and re-emphasized within a broad thematic framework of overall principle: Compassionate conservativism, volunteerism, advancing freedom at home and abroad; carrying the banner in the war against terror, confronting looming challenges rather than awaiting their arrival.
Specifics, however will be few and far between. Analysts said while previous policy successes and second-term agenda will be featured, nitty-gritty details are usually avoided so as not to intrude on the State of the Union Address to Congress in which the president lays out his blueprint for legislative action.
"What President Bush is going to do is to speak directly to not only the American people but also the world about how we can lead this country and this world to peace through liberty and how we can help Americans at home get a bigger stake in American society ... ," Bush adviser Dan Bartlett said on Fox News Sunday. "I think you could describe this speech as one which lays out the philosophical framework and the guiding principles which President Bush and this government will follow for the next four years.
"It's a powerful speech. It's one that President Bush believes in deep in his bones."
Iraq and the war on terror will underpin much of Bush's remarks, as they have since Sept. 11, 2001. Iraq's interim national elections take place 10 days after Bush recites the 35-word oath of office. Bush can be expected to repeat the refrain of the United States staying the course in Iraq to maintain long-range U.S. security and to plant the seeds for democracy there and elsewhere in the region. "The message will be there, absolutely," said Parry-Galt. "I think you'll see that translated into is a higher, more symbolically and stylistic expression of national resolve."
Social Security, tax reform, healthcare reform will also be mentioned by Bush as he speaks about Americans gaining a greater stake in the country.
If Bush's address falls short of expectation, he has good company. Few of the 14 U.S. presidents elected to second terms have given unforgettable inaugural speeches. As in all things, the proof will not be in what's said but what is done.
"His future as president, his legacy as president, depends on what he can accomplish, what he can get through Congress and what he can get done in Iraq," Sabato said.
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