A somewhat surprisingly confident and exuberant George W. Bush tonight, seemingly more at ease with himself as president than in many earlier such addresses. It was interesting, although depressing, to see the Democrats rise to cheer the defeat of the president's Social Security reform program, while sitting in dismay and disapproval (Hillary Clinton shaking her head in disgust) when Mr. Bush defended the NSA screening program.

Here is the key line that Democrats objected to:

"It is said that prior to the attacks of September the 11th, our government failed to connect the dots of the conspiracy. We now know that two of the hijackers in the United States placed telephone calls to Al Qaida operatives overseas. But we did not know about their plans until it was too late.

BUSH: So to prevent another attack -- based on authority given to me by the Constitution and by statute -- I have authorized a terrorist surveillance program to aggressively pursue the international communications of suspected Al Qaida operatives and affiliates to and from America.

Previous presidents have used the same constitutional authority I have and federal courts have approved the use of that authority. Appropriate members of Congress have been kept informed.

The terrorist surveillance program has helped prevent terrorist attacks. It remains essential to the security of America. If there are people inside our country who are talking with Al Qaida, we want to know about it, because we will not sit back and wait to be hit again."

The Democrats are making a significant mistake, in terms of the public perception of their competence to defend this country in time of war, by being so publicly dismissive and hostile to a program that does not seem to greatly alarm the American people, and which there is not a shred of evidence, hard or hearsay, that it has been abused.

Democrats, with few exceptions (Sen. Ben Nelson one of them), were similarly dismissive of an extension of the Patriot Act. Both these issues are likely to play a significant part in the public's process of measuring whether the Democratic party is up to the task of protecting it from foreign threats.

The president appropriately underscored, just after Democrats concluded their proud cheering at the demise of his Social Security reform program, the rising costs of this entitlement program, which will skyrocket even higher with the imminent retirement of the baby boom generation.

"The retirement of the baby boom generation will put unprecedented strains on the federal government. By 2030, spending for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid alone will be almost 60 percent of the entire federal budget. And that will present future Congresses with impossible choices: staggering tax increases, immense deficits or deep cuts in every category of spending.

Congress did not act last year on my proposal to save Social Security...

(APPLAUSE)

... yet the rising cost of entitlements is a problem that is not going away.

BUSH: And with every year we fail to act, the situation gets worse."

"Yet the tax relief is set to expire in the next few years.

If we do nothing, American families will face a massive tax increase they do not expect and will not welcome.

Because America needs more than a temporary expansion, we need more than temporary tax relief.

I urge the Congress to act responsibly and make the tax cuts permanent."

No one would expect the Democrats to even perform a perfunctory applause here, but Mr. Bush clearly again highlighted another key difference between the parties heading into this year's midterms.

On Iran:

"The Iranian government is defying the world with its nuclear ambitions, and the nations of the world must not permit the Iranian regime to gain nuclear weapons."

Which means confrontation with Iran is probably coming fairly soon, unless the unlikely happens, and the Iranians suddenly lose interest in continuing nuclear work for "energy purposes."

A great speech, containing great passion about many of the greatest domestic and foreign issues facing America today, and setting the stage for a highlighting of the differences which will dominate the upcoming midterm elections.