CORRECTION

A story Tuesday on Page 7B in the City & State section about U.S. Rep. Mel Watt's speech in Durham misspelled the name of White House spokeswoman Jeanie Mamo.

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Modern presidents are in the habit of telling us "the state of the union is strong" in their annual addresses to Congress and the nation.

But don't be surprised, when the camera sweeps the crowd during President Bush's address tonight, to see U.S. Rep. Mel Watt frowning during the applause lines.

Watt, a Charlotte Democrat who is chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, on Monday gave his own assessment of the country's progress under Bush. Bush comes up short on protecting the country from terrorism, creating jobs, and providing health care for the uninsured, Watt said.

Speaking to an audience at North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Co., Watt said the Iraq war and its aftermath have created an environment that allows terrorism to flourish, and the administration has failed to protect the United States from another terrorist strike.

"The safest place in America is the airport," he said. Bush has not secured America's shipping ports, schools or parks from terrorist attack, he said.

Ferrell Blount, chairman of the state Republican Party, said Watt is wrong about American security. He said the best evidence is the lack of terrorists strikes on U.S. soil since Sept. 11, 2001.

"Somebody is doing something right," Blount said. "That somebody is more than likely George W. Bush. I don't see how anybody can fault that record."

Blount said Watt's criticisms are typical of Democrats who criticize Bush.

"They're basically on a fault-finding mission and offering no substantial means to change," Blount said.

Bush plans to talk about providing health insurance coverage for the uninsured, White House spokeswoman Jeanie Mano said, and he will promote a plan to make it easier for small businesses to offer their employees health benefits.

"The president will talk about an optimistic agenda," she said.

Watt took a different approach to the health insurance question, emphasizing the increasing numbers of Americans who don't have any. According to the census, 45.8 million Americans were uninsured in 2004.

"On the criteria of health, I don't think we're doing very well," Watt said.

Watt alluded to national polls that show that a majority of Americans think the country is headed in the wrong direction. In the Time Poll, the Gallup Poll, the Cook Political Report and other January surveys, 60 percent or more of respondents said they thought the country was on the wrong track.

The audience chuckled when a college student suggested Bush be impeached, and recently retired UNC journalism professor Chuck Stone tried to rally the crowd in favor of impeachment. Watt was more cautious, saying impeachment should be saved for illegal acts and not be applied over political or policy disagreements.

"I haven't ruled out that some of the things this president is doing are illegal," Watt said, referring to domestic wiretaps without warrants.

But if presidents were impeached over policy disagreements, he said, Congress would impeach a president every four years.

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