President Bush often says he didn't come to Washington to avoid big battles on difficult issues. But as he readies his State of the Union address, Bush has pared his once lofty wish list to a narrower one designed to boost his party's fortunes in this year's elections and show he can deliver on promises.

Stung by the collapse of his ambitious plan to overhaul social security, unveiled in his last State of the Union speech, Bush is not expected to propose sweeping policy changes. Facing a swelling budget deficit and pressure from conservatives to curb government spending, he has little room to create new programmes. And with his influence ebbing, Bush doesn't have much chance of getting his way on ideas that stir dispute.

He has said he will focus on broad themes: his drive to spread democracy around the world, his vow to keep Americans safe from terrorism and policies to keep the country economically competitive in a challenging world.

Bush will highlight some of his 2004 campaign promises, including tax breaks for health care spending, income and investment tax cuts and a new immigration law. He is also expected to call for a new government commitment to innovation, including initiatives to boost science and maths education, and research on alternatives to oil and gas. More sweeping ideas, such as overhauling the tax system, have been shelved for now.

The shift reflects Bush's challenges after a difficult year, as well as the burdens of a second-term president struggling to control the agenda as his influence wanes.

Bush "can make steady, small progress on a limited agenda,'' said Steven Schier, a Carleton College political scientist. After a tumultuous beginning to Bush's second term, he added, "They've gotten real that's what second terms are all about.''

Iraq and terrorism will be central themes of the speech. Bush is expected to reiterate his defence of the National Security Agency's warrant-less eavesdropping operation, which he calls his "terrorist surveillance programme.''

Bush might seek to rally support for both, analysts suggest, by returning to a favourite tactic of his political advisers: invoking public fears about terrorism in a post-September 11 age and asserting that he will stop at nothing to protect Americans from further attacks.

The strategy has been central to Bush's recent efforts to defend the NSA eavesdropping programme which targets some communications inside the United States against accusations by lawmakers in both parties that it is illegal. Surveys show that voters are more likely to embrace the programme if they see it as crucial to protecting them and the State of the Union address is a high-profile chance for Bush to press that case.

Domestic issues

Bush's aides also have signalled that the president will use the speech to try to frame domestic issues especially those where national surveys show his party is vulnerable to Republicans' advantage.

A coincidence of scheduling gives Bush one ready victory to promote during the speech: expected Senate confirmation of his second Supreme Court nominee, Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr., in a vote virtually certain to occur hours before the president goes before a joint session of Congress for the annual speech.

"I would look in this State of the Union address for the president to reassert the initiative in some areas that are key to holding his coalition together,'' said Clark Judge, a speech writer for President Reagan.

Second-term presidents are seen by lawmakers as "a less potent ally and a less troublesome adversary'', Judge added, so Bush must use the speech to prod Congress and try to spark public support. "You're trying to frame the discussion,'' he said.

Bush has pledged to cut the deficit, now estimated at $337 billion (Dh1.24 trillion), in half by 2009 and plans to back up his promise for fiscal toughness with a call to hold down spending next year on all non-entitlement domestic programmes not related to defence.

But that is a fraction of what the government spends, about one dollar of every six. Focusing on it ignores the costs of Bush's proposed tax cuts, continued war spending and the growth of programmes such as Social Security and Medicare, said Robert Bixby of the Concord Coalition, a nonpartisan budget watchdog group.

Bush is "casting a spotlight on a relatively small section of the budget and magnifying it beyond its importance by saying, 'We're holding the line here', as if that is the whole budget,'' Bixby said. The strategy, he added, reflects an acknowledgment by Bush that "he is at the point where you've got to be realistic and look for some low-hanging fruit".

Bush, who will point to high growth and low unemployment rates to back up his optimistic view of the economy, might have better luck garnering bipartisan support for new measures to keep the United States competitive.

He is said to be considering a major government push to spark innovation through improvements in maths and science education and increased funding for basic research, spurred by a growing chorus of academics, scientists and executives voicing increasing anxiety about competition from growing economic powers such as China and India.