Associated Press Writer

Bob Soper saw the devastation of war firsthand, and it turned him against it. But after listening to President Bush outline the threat posed by Iraq in his State of the Union address, the 90-year-old World War II veteran felt differently.

"I was 100 percent against going to war," said Soper, a Republican who now lives in a Minneapolis retirement home. "He has changed my mind."

Martha Nohe and John Seamens also were impressed after listening to Bush detail the case against Saddam Hussein.

"I didn't realize that he had so many biological weapons," said Nohe, 72, who watched Tuesday night's speech at her home in Zelienople, Pa., about 30 miles north of Pittsburgh. "We need to do something."

Seamens, 45, a Delta Air Lines pilot from Vancouver, Wash., who watched the president at a Dallas bar, seemed surprised at some of Bush's comments on Iraq.

"He brought up things I did not know ... things that Iraq hadn't been telling about, things that it was known that they have, that they were told to get rid of, and they haven't done it yet," Seamens said.

But Dave Mattingly wasn't convinced. His 21-year-old Marine son was sent to the Persian Gulf on Tuesday, and listening to Bush talk about the threat from Saddam just made Mattingly angry.

"He's going to have his war one way or another, no matter what the rest of the world thinks," Mattingly, 49, said as he walked away from a bank of big-screen televisions at a Sears store in Las Vegas.

The economy is Richard Romero's biggest worry, and he didn't think Bush did enough to address it.

"He still doesn't see the big picture," said Romero, 44, whose job as a consultant with the United Steelworkers of America was recently cut back to 24 hours a week.

Romero, a Democrat, watched the speech with his wife and two daughters at their home in snow-swept Lorain, Ohio, a blue-collar city about 30 miles west of Cleveland.

"More people are worrying about how they're going to pay their next mortgage and how they're going to keep their kids in school and he's focusing on this potential war," he said.

Recent polls reflect Romero's opinion: Those who approved of the president's economic policy fell below 50 percent. Another poll showed only half approved of Bush's handling of foreign policy.

His overall approval rating was more than 50 percent, a healthy figure, but a big drop from the 90 percent levels it reached after Sept. 11, 2001.

At The Turtle Club in Ashland, Mo., customers dug into their grilled ribeye steaks and sipped beer while listening to Bush. When it was over, many weren't sold on going to war against Iraq or that Bush is doing everything possible to boost the economy.

Jerry Fortner, 60, of Belle, Mo., a rural mail carrier, wanted to know more about what the president would do to help make health care available to everyone. Fortner said he doesn't have insurance and knows friends who struggle to pay premiums topping $500 a month.

"I hear the speeches year after year and I am still skeptical that Bush will do much after he's finished making the speech," said Fortner, an independent.

But on Iraq, Fortner was more sympathetic.

"I never thought the U.N. inspectors would find anything, but I do think Iraq is hiding weapons from the world. I will support Bush if we do go in to finish the job this time," he said.

Bush gave few details of what lies ahead for U.S. troops, but Luann Hoyseth, 26, didn't mind as she listened with fellow military wives in Hinesville, Ga. Two weeks ago, she said goodbye to her husband, 1st Lt. Colin Hoyseth, when he was deployed to Kuwait with his Army unit.

"It endangers my husband's life, so I'm glad he's not giving it all away right now," she said.

"When he comes home, they're going to be heroes -- not just to us, but to the Iraqi people," she said. "President Bush is doing the right thing."

Fifth-grade teacher Jeff McClain, 56, of Oakland, Calif., isn't so sure.

"I certainly don't think that Saddam Hussein is a nice person. I think he's done terrible things," McClain said. "But I don't see that as an immediate threat to the American people. I see it as an immediate threat to the oil business. I see Bush representing that interest and not the interest of the American people."

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EDITOR'S NOTE -- Associated Press writers Russ Bynum in Georgia, Scott Charton in Missouri, Josh Freed in Minnesota, Charles Richards in Texas, Thomas J. Sheeran in Ohio, Michelle Smith in California and Patrick Walters in Pennsylvania contributed to this report.