Institute for Policy Innovation

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins isn’t the only right-wing leader unhappy with President Bush’s State of the Union speech.

“We're disappointed that he didn't mention cultural issues at all,” said National Review editor Rich Lowry. The Institute for Policy Innovation, a strong supporter of Bush’s plan two years ago to privatize Social Security, now asserts that he “lacked leadership in that he failed to propose any [specific] solutions.” Bush “left a lot of conservatives shaking their heads” with the speech, according to Bill Lauderback of the American Conservative Union. A spokesperson for Gary Bauer’s American Values lamented that the president “lost a golden opportunity to set the stage” by emphasizing right-wing issues.