and part campaigner-in-chief with the election looming at the end of the year. 11 news reporter nicole kilian begins our team coverage from washington. >> president obama said the state of our union is getting stronger and the country has come too far to turn back now. >> the president of the united states. [applause] >> in his last state of the union of this term, president obama confronted concerns about the economy and declared the defining issue of our time is protecting the american dream. >> a shrinking number of people do really well while a growing number of americans barely get by, where we can restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot and everyone does their fair share and everyone plays by the same set of rules. >> the president's push for economic fairness included calls for the wealthy to pay more in taxes. he also pressed for additional help for the middle class through mortgage and student loan relief and jobs. >> tonight, my message to business leaders is simple, ask yourselves what you can do to bring jobs back to your country and your country will do everything we c