President Obama’s Final State of the Union, By the Numbers

This does not include those who watched via streaming or online.

It was the President’s seventh State of Union address and came amid criticism he had failed to deliver on major issues throughout his two terms in office despite his promises. “And each time, we overcame those fears”.

The remarks are aimed at Republican candidates, including Ted Cruz, who has said he’d carpet bomb the Islamic State group.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – President Barack Obama is pushing back against claims in the heat of a presidential election that the US economy and standing in the world are struggling.

“I want to be clear about this”.

But President Obama said tonight, that even though our nation is challenged by change, it is still strong. He added, “The United States of America is the most powerful nation on Earth”.

Specific problem areas identified by Obama: reducing barriers to voting, limiting the influence of money in politics, ending the drawing of congressional districts to benefit politicians’ interests.

The president did mention some important priorities in passing: curbing the heroin epidemic, reforming the criminal justice system, tackling gun violence, closing the terrorist prison at Guantanamo Bay, lifting the trade embargo on Cuba and winning approval for the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, among them.

Obama is speaking at the University of Nebraska-Omaha as part of swing through GOP-leaning Nebraska and Louisiana following his State of the Union address.

In a statement. Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin, a Democrat, said the president’s ability to “appeal to our better instincts” makes him a great leader.

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley made the official Republican response and she’s already being criticized for being too soft on Obama.

Obama said the world is looking to the U.S.to address threats in the Middle East and elsewhere. The President is right when he says Social Security needs to be strengthened, that students deserve access to affordable education, that everyone deserves the dignity of a job, and that hate speech and discrimination have no place in our country. She called on Americans to resist the temptation “to follow the siren call of the angriest voices”.

As President Barack Obama begins his eighth and final year in office, the differences in how he and leading Republicans view the health care reform law continue to be sharp. “I like talking about hope and all the good stuff, but if it’s going on, and you look at some of these ads and it’s some doom and some gloom”.