US:President George Bush has failed to win over congressional Democrats or to quell a growing rebellion among Republicans over Iraq in Tuesday's state of the union address.
Democrats welcomed the president's focus on domestic issues but criticised his proposals on education, energy and healthcare reform as either inadequate or wrong-headed. Dozens of Republicans joined Democrats in attacking Mr Bush's plan to send more troops to Iraq, a policy he defended in Tuesday's speech as the best chance for success.
Republican senator Olympia Snowe, who has backed a bipartisan resolution condemning the plan, said the president had not changed her mind. "I continue to believe that adding additional troops does not address the root causes of violence in Iraq," she said.
In his first state of the union address to a Democratic Congress, Mr Bush pleaded with legislators in both parties to give his plan a chance. "We went into this largely united, in our assumptions and in our convictions. And whatever you voted for, you did not vote for failure. Our country is pursuing a new strategy in Iraq and I ask you to give it a chance to work. And I ask you to support our troops in the field, and those on their way," he said.
In the official Democratic response to the speech, Virginia senator Jim Webb said that Mr Bush had lost the confidence of the American people on Iraq. "The president took us into this war recklessly. He disregarded warnings from the national security adviser during the first Gulf War; the chief of staff of the army; two former commanding generals of the central command, whose jurisdiction includes Iraq; the director of operations on the joint chiefs of staff; and many, many others with great integrity and long experience in national security affairs.
"We are now, as a nation, held hostage to the predictable - and predicted - disarray that has followed," he said. Mr Webb said that, instead of sending more troops to Iraq, the US needed a new direction and a new approach to the conflict.
"Not one step back from the war against international terrorism. Not a precipitous withdrawal that ignores the possibility of further chaos. But an immediate shift toward strong regionally based diplomacy, a policy that takes our soldiers off the streets of Iraq's cities, and a formula that will in short order allow our combat forces to leave Iraq," he said.
Campaigners for immigration reform welcomed Mr Bush's offer to work with Democrats to pass legislation that would strengthen America's borders but allow most illegal immigrants to remain in the US and eventually apply for citizenship.
The Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform, which campaigns on behalf of undocumented Irish citizens in the US, will hold a rally next week in San Francisco, home to House speaker Nancy Pelosi. The group plans a number of rallies throughout the US in the next few weeks to maintain pressure on legislators to act swiftly on immigration reform.
Ms Pelosi said it remained to be seen if Mr Bush was serious about working with Democrats to make progress on issues such as immigration, healthcare and energy. "It will be clear to us whether he's ready to work co-operatively to do that or if he's saying, 'I'm the decider,' " she said.
Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama welcomed the focus on domestic policy but suggested Mr Bush should go further in seeking to address global warming. "The idea of climate change finally passed his lips. That's long overdue," Mr Obama said.
Republican senator John McCain, who is also running for president in 2008, agreed that there was a need for more urgent action to tackle climate change. "We've got to start reducing these greenhouse gas emissions before our planet is unalterably heated, and the consequences of that are catastrophic," he said.
Ten of America's biggest corporations this week called for nationwide limits on greenhouse gas emissions. A number of US states are introducing their own limits but business leaders complain that a patchwork of different regulations will add costs to manufacturers.