Instead of rolling out a laundry list of policy proposals he knows a GOP Congress is unlikely to fulfill, the president will make a broad case about how the nation has progressed under his leadership while setting the table for Democrats in the 2016 elections.

Here’s what to watch for in Obama’s final State of the Union.

Tumultuous events in the Middle East have complicated the president’s case that America is stronger than ever.

Polls show Obama receiving low marks for his handling of the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), an area where Republicans have repeatedly said the president has failed.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) predicted on ABC’s “This Week” that Obama would “try to paint a rosy picture where one does not exist.”

“What we’d love to hear from the president is a real plan to defeat ISIL,” he said, using an alternate acronym for the terrorist group.

The criticism has irked Obama, who made a prime-time address last month on national security. On Tuesday, he may need to reassure the public and his allies in Congress, who have grumbled over Iran’s saber-rattling, the Syrian civil war and ISIS.

The economy

Obama views the economy as a positive part of his legacy and wants to take time to talk about it on Tuesday night.

White House aides have crowed about the 292,000 new jobs created in December as a sign of the economy’s strength.

The president will reflect on how some of the biggest decisions of his presidency — including the auto bailout and his healthcare reform law — spurred a streak of 70 straight months of private-sector job growth, a centerpiece of his presidential legacy.

“I want us to be able, when we walk out this door, to say — we couldn’t think of anything else that we didn’t try to do. That we didn’t shy away from a challenge because it was hard,” Obama said in a video the White House released Monday.

Even here, however, there are some concerns. The stock market is off to a terrible start for 2016, and low oil prices and the upheaval in China’s economy has led to some fears of a global slump.

Still, Obama is likely to remind Americans of the crisis he inherited in 2009 and how far the country has come.

He’s scheduled to amplify that message with post-speech trips this week to a college in Omaha, Neb., and a high school in Baton Rouge, La.

Gitmo

Obama will likely receive a mixed response from Congress if he highlights his push to close the military prison in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

Shuttering the controversial facility is one of Obama’s biggest unfulfilled campaign promises, and his chief of staff pledged Sunday the president would close it before he leaves office next January

But plans to move Gitmo prisoners to the U.S. mainland has long faced opposition from Congress, including from many Democrats, who fear the detainees could pose a safety risk in their districts.

Obama could stress the possibility of taking unilateral action if Congress rejects his yet-to-be released proposal to shut down the prison.

Who’s tuning in

Tuesday’s speech may be the largest audience Obama receives during his final year in office.

JOSH LEDERMAN, Associated Press.