President Bush will deliver his election-year State of the Union address tonight with the world, the nation and Northwestern tuning in.
Some students will band together in dorms to watch the speech. Others will watch it by themselves. One American Government and Politics class is required to watch it for homework.
But with the primary election season officially in full swing, many students and political watchers have had their eyes fixed on the events on the other side of the political spectrum.
“It’s a different set of circumstances altogether,” said Communication Prof. Lee Huebner, who was a speechwriter for President Nixon. “The primary election might have drawn some of the attention.”
Huebner will be watching the speech and then leading a discussion tonight with residents at the Public Affairs Residential College. PARC President Elizabeth Stephens said the residential college has a tradition of rallying its residents to watch the address together.
Students in other residence halls and colleges also plan to meet up to watch the address.
But few student groups, residential colleges and dorm governments will hold formal events tonight.
“We’ve just been focused on other stuff,” said Henry Bowles, vice president of College Republicans and a Daily advertising representative.
In past years the campus activist group has gathered its members to watch the speech together. This year, though, members have been preoccupied, largely with activities centered around the upcoming primary elections, said Bowles, a Medill junior.
College Democrats President Alicia Pardo, a Communication senior, said she was in Iowa for that state’s Monday caucus, which Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry won. Her group — which last year joined with College Republicans to watch the address — is not planning to gather to watch the president’s speech tonight either.
Huebner said Bush’s address, which historically has been a president’s medium for introducing new proposals, could be somewhat different this year. He called it the “opening speech of his campaign.”
Last year Bush used the State of the Union address to make his case for war in Iraq.
This year he is expected to begin with a defense of the war and then turn his focus to domestic issues, especially the economy, the Associated Press reported Saturday.
Adrienne Bernhard, a Weinberg sophomore, said she plans to watch the president’s speech — if she has time.
“There’s always the conception of apathy here, but there really isn’t an excuse,” she said. “Just to be an aware person, you should watch the speech.”
But for some other students, disinterest combined with a distaste for the president and his policies will keep them from paying attention to the State of the Union speech.
“I really don’t have interest in it, and when I hear Bush speak, I just want to reach for the TV and slap him,” said McCormick freshman Jason Velkavrh.
Coverage of the president’s address will begin at 8 p.m. on most major news and network stations.
