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Defending His Legacy: Obama's Final State of the Union

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President Barack Obama will deliver his last State of the Union speech Tuesday night and many believe he will attempt to frame this year's election choices, while defending his legacy.

He's expected to highlight the economy – a 5 percent unemployment rate and what he calls strong job creation in 2015.

But critics point out that the recovery under Obama has been very weak by historical standards – something they blame on the Obama administration's heavy government regulation, which has hurt business.

On Monday, another coal company declared bankruptcy. As the Wall Street Journal noted, the coal industry has lost 40,000 jobs since 2008 and 27 other companies have declared bankruptcy in the last four years.

With the Iowa caucus just three weeks away, voters are already looking ahead to consider the president's replacement.

"I feel really good about where we are, but I'm not taking anything for granted," Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton said.

And the latest polls show she shouldn't.

In Iowa and New Hampshire the Democratic race between Clinton and Bernie Sanders is tightening. Some analysts believe Sanders may even sweep the first two states.

On the Republican side, front-runner Donald Trump still has a strong lead nationally, but he's facing tough competition in Iowa from Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.

"We will win the general election in 2016 and beat Hillary Clinton," Cruz told supporters.

With the two candidates just a few percentage points apart in the Iowa polls, Trump is lowering expectations and diving into retail politics.

"The reason others do small diners is they can't get anyone to show up," Trump said.

What the president says Tuesday night will help set the stage in Iowa and down the line.

Democrats are looking for a legacy they can defend and build on, and Republicans are looking to turn away from the president's policies and cast a new direction for the country – and hoping that voters will buy in.

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About The Author

Heather
Sells

Heather Sells covers wide-ranging stories for CBN News that include religious liberty, ministry trends, immigration, and education. She’s known for telling personal stories that capture the issues of the day, from the border sheriff who rescues migrants in the desert to the parents struggling with a child that identifies as transgender. In the last year, she has reported on immigration at the Texas border, from Washington, D.C., in advance of the Dobbs abortion case, at crisis pregnancy centers in Massachusetts, and on sexual abuse reform at the annual Southern Baptist meeting in Anaheim