In his annual State of the Union address to Congress, President George W. Bush proposed – though often with few details – sweeping reforms to energy consumption, public education and immigration controls, among other hot button topics, to a clearly divided but responsive audience.

Calling America “addicted” to foreign oil, the president pledged to finance research into alternative energy – such as wind and solar energy and corn-based fuel – as well as continuing to offer tax credits to researchers in science and technology.

“The best way to break this addiction is through technology,” the President said. “Since 2001, we have spent nearly $10 billion to develop cleaner, cheaper and more reliable alternative energy sources. And we are on the threshold of incredible advances.”

Citing the rise of competitor nations like India and China, the President vowed to keep America on the forefront of modern technology, in a call met with pointed responses from Democratic critics who asked why the president had waited five years to address the energy crisis and doubted his sincerity.

The speech, which opened with a nearly 20-minute appeal to further the “march of freedom” around the globe, touched on all the pivotal issues that the president was expected to address, occasionally striking a divisive tone that prompted jeers from Democrats and waves of applause from Republicans. The audience was never more divided than when the president made reference to “our Creator” and called for abstinence education, as well as a ban on all forms of embryo cloning, which some researchers consider crucial to furthering stem cell research.

“Human life is a gift from our creator,” the President asserted, “and that gift should never be discarded, devalued or put up for sale.”

Bush also touted his economic record, pointing to the creation of nearly 5 million jobs, and called on Congress to make his tax cuts of the last several years permanent.

“Keeping America competitive requires us to be good stewards of tax dollars,” the President said.

The president made no reference to recent debates in Congress that would cut funding for college student loans. While he stressed the importance of math and science education in America’s public schools, he didn’t mention secondary education throughout his 52-minute speech.

“I propose to train 70,000 high school teachers to lead Advanced Placement courses in math and science, bring 30,000 math and science professionals to teach in classrooms and give early help to students who struggle with math, so they have a better chance at good high-wage jobs,” he told Congress.

Bush’s speech was overwhelmingly laden with references to terrorism and national security, which may come as no surprise; however, after a period of plummeting poll numbers, the president may be exhibiting a shift in rhetoric back to national security issues, for which his rating remained relatively constant throughout his decline in approval. Further evidence of this came last week when Karl Rove, emerging after weeks of relative silence during a recent scandal over the leak of a CIA agent’s identity, said that the Republicans path to victory in the midterm elections is to harp on security after 9/11.