Mr. Bush will speak for 12-15 minutes from the White House just before lunchtime today. I wouldn't expect any dramatic pronouncements or anything. We would have more buildup.

This will probably be misinterpreted by some, but at this point, it doesn't really matter what the President is going to say.

What I mean is, the Democrats are in their corner on Iraq and President Bush is his corner on the Iraq War.

Both think they are right and there is almost no common ground between them for compromise.

As for what Mr. Bush would say, the White House was doing its level best as usual to keep a lid on the President's plans. But it would be a surprise to have him go off the Petraeus Map.

"Ambassador Crocker and General Petraeus have done a very good job of providing their very candid and frank assessment about the progress that has been made because of the surge, and the challenges that lie ahead," said White House Press Secretary Dana Perino.

"And one of the things that General Petraeus said is that the gains we've made are fragile and they're reversible," she added at Wednesday's briefing.

While scrapping with Helen Thomas, Perino wasn't exactly giving reporters much in the way of news to preview the President's speech.

"The President thinks that it's way premature to pull out troops now. One, it's dangerous for our own national security," said Perino.

I'm not sure anyone had money on a withdrawal speech today.

So I expect the President to make his statement, Democratic leaders in the Congress to make one in rebuttal and then we will all wait for the calendar to flip, flip, flip its way to November.

Then we will find out if the next administration is controlled by the Democrats.

If it is, it still won't be easy to end the war. Everyone knows that.