Economic Anxiety Shadows State of the Union - WSJ.com

Economic Anxiety Shadows State of the Union - WSJ.com

Four times, President Barack Obama has stood in the well of the House of Representatives and delivered a State of the Union address—and four times, economic anxieties have largely overshadowed his efforts to push a broad agenda.
Tuesday night he makes his fifth such address—the State of the Union that will help define his second term. While the economy is improving and the mood in Washington is changing in significant ways, the story line isn't all that different: A broader Obama agenda is fighting to break out, but the economy still hangs over all else.

WSJ reporters Neil King, Colleen McCain Nelson and Laura Meckler swap reporting leads and predictions on the big themes of Barack Obama's State of the Union address, including the budget showdown, climate change and fixing the immigration system.

To be sure, Mr. Obama has more on his mind: Immigration overhaul, gun control and climate change are the topics most discussed since his re-election. The president will say he plans a trip to the Middle East, putting him in the company of Presidents Reagan, Clinton and Bush, who all tried to crack the code on the Palestinian problem in a second term.

WSJ's Jerry Seib discusses the four key items he will be watching for from President Obama in Tuesday's State of the Union speech.

And yet White House officials are signaling that the core of the speech will focus on ways to spur the economy and job creation. Mr. Obama was criticized by Republicans for not making jobs the centerpiece of his second inaugural address last month; it appears he won't leave himself open to that critique this time.