President Obama's State of the Union expected to be optimistic

President Obamas 2015 State of the Union address
(Image credit: Getty Images)

An upbeat State of the Union address can be expected from President Obama on Tuesday, according to aides who spoke with The New York Times. The speech offers Obama both a last chance at bullet-pointing his own legacy as well as to counter the negative narratives spun by Republicans on the campaign trail:

As a preview, [Obama] sent his White House chief of staff, Denis McDonough, to most of the Sunday talk shows to counter the Republicans, citing the 292,000 new jobs created in December and the 2.65 million in all of 2015.The Republicans are "seeming to run down America," Mr. McDonough said on NBC. "I don't really get it. What I see is an America that's surging.""We feel very optimistic about the future," he added. "That's a big difference between us and what's going on in this public debate right now and that's what you'll hear about on Tuesday night." [The New York Times]

Even while as many as 68 percent of Americans believing the nation to be on the wrong track, Obama will likely continue to highlight positives such as job creation numbers as well as push his presidency's lingering policy issues like gun control and climate change.

"This year, he'll be speaking more to the American public," White House communications director Jennifer Psaki said.

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Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.