Most Americans expect tonight's State of the Union Address to confirm what they already think about the president and politics
Tonight President Obama will give his sixth State of the Union Address. The President is expected to use the speech as an opportunity to declare an end to the years of hardship that followed the 2008 financial crisis, as for the first time the American economy and job market is showing sustained and significant growth. In a time of better economic news and diminished financial pressures, the President and Democrats are set to urge greater spending on education and on tackling income inequality.
YouGov's latest research shows that only 8% of Americans think that this year's State of the Union Address might change their views about President Obama and political issues. 66% of the public, including 54% of Democrats and 88% of Republicans, just expect it to confirm what they already think.
39% of Americans say that they are planning on watching the address tonight. 17% say that they'd like to be can't, while the largest group (44%) say that they aren't going to watch it because they don't want to. Most Democrats (55%) say that they'll be watching the President give the State of the Union, while most Republicans (62%) say that they don't want to watch.
Nevertheless, despite Democrats being the most likely to say they will watch it does not mean that the audience will be mainly comprised of Democrats. In light of how many more independents there are than Democrats, 40% of tonight's audience is expected to be made up of independents and 40% will be Democrats. Only 19% of people tuning in will be Republicans.
Full poll results can be found here.
