U.S. President Barack Obama will be delivering the annual State of the Union address on Tuesday night, 9 p.m. EST. The majority of the television stations will be broadcasting the message, and the White House is making the speech available on enhanced live stream online: www.whitehouse.gov/sotu
Meanwhile, CNN will be doing a live, comprehensive coverage of Obama's address that starts at 7 p.m. ET Tuesday. It will be made available on CNN.com, iPhone, iPad or Android.
According to Gallup poll, Obama's president approval ratings started out in 2013 with 53 percent, but ended the year with only 43 percent. His approval ratings fluctuated throughout his tenure in the office. When he first obtained office, his approval rating was a whooping 67 percent. And then in next year, his ratings fluctuated between 40 percent to 54 percent.
Recent History of State of Union Speech
While veteran Democratic strategist and worsmith Paul Begala, a close advisor to former President Bill Clinton believes that Obama will capitalize on the State of Union address to set the agenda, other democrats disagreed on the president's influence to seize the initiative, according to CNN.
In 2013, Obama failed to get any of his top 2013 State of the Union priorities through Congress. His calls for a new jobs program, for gun control laws and for sweeping immigration reform were all stopped short in the congress.
In 2006, President George W. Bush had a similar 43% job approval rating at the time of his State of the Union address. Bill Clinton, on the other hand, had a 59% approval rating to begin his sixth year in office, and Ronald Reagan was at 64% around his 1986 State of the Union, the CNN reports.
What will the president talk about tonight?
Judging from the special guests invited as described on the White House State of the Union website, the issues that Obama will recap and address may include the Supreme Court's rulings on California's Prop. 8 and a part of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) as unconstitutional, immigration reform, gun control, support of business leaders from the Silicon Valley, disaster responses, poverty-reduction, job-creation, and health care.
The special guests listed to attend the event include NBA player Jason Collins, who announced that he was gay, making him the first to do so in major American team sports; survivors of Boston Marathon bombing Carlos Arredondo and Jeff Bauman; fire chief Gary Bird from Moore, OK; San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee. The full list of special guest can be found here.
Meanwhile, Duck Dynasty's Willie Robertson will also be attending the State of Union address, but it will be along side Louisiana Rep. Vance McAllister, according to Deadline.com. The CEO of Robertson family's Duck Commander company is known for his patriotism through wearing U.S. flag bandanas in various public events.
