It was President Bush's sixth State of the Union speech, but it was the first time he addressed a Democratic Congress.

With Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi sitting behind him on stage, the politically embattled president defended the war in Iraq and laid out a national agenda for the latter days of his administration.

asap's Sam Dolnick spoke to Tom Raum, who wrote the AP's analysis of the speech, about what was behind the rhetoric, how the Democrats will respond and where Bush will take the country from here.

Here's what Raum had to say.

BUSH'S DEMEANOR

"I think he was unusually somber. He didn't have any of the cowboy traits that his critics always claim. He went out of his way at the beginning to congratulate Nancy Pelosi on becoming Speaker of the House. But he made it clear that he wanted to pursue his own policy on Iraq and he asked Congress to give him a chance for his plans to work. It was a quieter Bush than we've seen before."

SPEAKING TO A DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS

"I think Bush hoped the speech would convey that he was a president that wanted to reach across party lines and work together with Democrats on pressing issues like health care. He wanted to set the right tone of bipartisanship. But, of course, the real audience was not just Congress but the people who watch from home."

"He mentioned Social Security, but just in passing. He didn't push hard for the plan he proposed in 2005 that ran into so much trouble. He just said, 'Let's work together to resolve financial differences.'"

ON IRAQ AND THE HOMEFRONT

"Of course Iraq was the main subject of the speech. It's what's on most of the minds of those in the audience and the nation at large. He asked for support to send more troops to Iraq and he laid out a bunch of domestic initiatives, some of which he had mentioned before, others which were new."

"The new one was that he wanted to decrease gas use in this country in 10 years and he would do this in part by encouraging use of alternative fuels. He asked Congress to give him the ability to set a minimum gas mileage standard for cars."

"And he called for immigration overhaul. He has a guest worker program and that plan got more Democratic applause than Republican applause. It's the only thing where he has a good shot of getting the majority's support."

MEMORABLE PHRASES?

"The State of the Union address rarely produces phrases that live on for more than 24 hours. They're usually just laundry lists that presidents rattle off. It's sort of a set piece -- it's done and it's usually forgotten."

"The 'axis of evil' phrase is one of the few things that you remember about a Bush State of the Union. And I don't think 'axis of evil' is a phrase you're ever going to hear from the president again."

WHERE WAS NEW ORLEANS?

"He didn't mention Katrina or New Orleans at all. In the Democratic response, Senator Jim Webb led off with the importance of taking care of New Orleans. The Webb speech was released ahead of time and I thought maybe having heard those complaints, the president or his advisers would insert a sentence. But no, it wasn't in the speech."

WEBB'S OFFICIAL DEMOCRATIC RESPONSE

"He's not a natural speaker. He comes across as a little wooden but he hit all the notes that the Democrats wanted him to hit. Right near the top, he mentioned Katrina. And he, like Bush, talked about working together in a bipartisan spirit. He borrowed a concept from John Edwards that there were two Americas."

THE CEREMONY OF THE SPEECH

"It was a pretty typical State of the Union. He would say something the Republicans like and they'd get up and cheer. He'd strike an appeal to patriotism and both sides would cheer. When he mentioned immigration overhaul, the Democrats jumped to their feet before the Republicans did."

"And it had heroes in the audience and the Cabinet was there and a lot of VIPs. But here's a first: I think this is the first time that the White House had streaming video of the speech on their official Web site."

Sam Dolnick is asap's night supervisor. Tom Raum has covered national and international affairs for The Associated Press since 1973.

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