WASHINGTON INSIGHT

ONE-UPMANSHIP? Congressional Democrats are bracing for trench warfare with Bush on many domestic issues in the wake of the President’s State of the Union and budget messages. Although the Democrats generally pledged cooperation after Bush’s speech, look for rival bills designed to out-do what the President has proposed on everything from tax cuts and education to health care and trade issues. . . . Democrats also will call for deeper defense cuts than Bush has proposed, although it remains to be seen whether Congress actually will go that far. Says one congressional strategist: “The bidding war has begun.”