REUTERS
U.S. President Barack Obama in his last State of the Union address on January 12 will shun the usual wish list of legislation he hopes will pass Congress this year, according to Radio Liberty.
Instead, the president will take an unorthodox approach, aides say, and list what he has accomplished in his first seven years in office and then offer an optimistic assessment of the country's future, RFE/RL reports.
Aides say Obama hopes the upbeat address will serve as a contrast to the doom and gloom predictions being offered by Republican presidential candidates who hope to replace him in a year's time.
The move to shun any mention of legislative goals for 2016 is an acknowledgement of the reality that the two parties are clashing increasingly ahead of the elections over emotional issues from gun control to the Syrian refugee crisis, making any agreement on legislative measures more elusive than ever.
In striking an optimistic tone, the president will tout progress on the U.S. economy, which was plunging into the deepest recession since the Great Depression when he took office and is now among the best performers in a sluggish global economy.