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Why should voters give President Obama a second term?

This is the essential question woven through the president's address to the nation tonight. His Republican detractors maintain that many Americans suffer from buyer's remorse and will not re-hire a wobbly chief executive enthralled with government problem-solving.

Obama wants all Americans, and especially persuadable voters, to listen carefully to his arguments Tuesday. More than many presidents, Obama has earned kudos for well-received speeches, and the State of the Union address, delivered live and in front of lawmakers, is a rite of prime-time oratory that will visually remind Americans of Obama’s recent hand-to-hand combat with the legislative branch.

After three years in office, the president will say America’s dwindling middle class is at a critical turning point in which they are either at the mercy of Republicans who favor “less opportunity and less fairness,” or are led by his vision for a stronger, more equitable economy in 2012 and beyond.

He will say “fairness for all” and American “values” mean offering incentives to encourage companies to keep manufacturing, services and opportunities from migrating abroad; supporting training and education for skilled workers in the United States; creating a tax code that rewards the middle class and asks the wealthiest Americans to pay more; and supporting alternative energy policies that also create new jobs while weaning the country from dependency on oil.

Obama explored these “fair play” themes in December during a speech delivered in Osawatomie, Kan. There will be elements of his manufacturing and high-tech boosterism that will recall his “Winning the Future” campaign, unveiled at the outset of 2011 and later abandoned for a more populist communications plan after the summer.

To make a case that he is correct and Republicans are wrong, Obama plans to use his address to replay his record of achievement, to explain why more economic progress has been slow to materialize on his watch (i.e., congressional obstruction, events beyond his control, a cautious private sector), and to contrast his second-term agenda with policies espoused by Mitt Romney and other GOP contenders who want his job.

The White House and Obama’s campaign advisers have worked overtime in the last five days to blend previews of the president’s speech with suspense-building teasers and social media entreaties designed to stoke interest in Obama’s address, especially amid competing coverage of the Republican presidential contests. The president attracted 48 million viewers for his first State of the Union address, and 43 million for his second, according to the Nielsen ratings.

Can Obama promise more, more, more on Tuesday night, and come across as credible? Can he persuade the three-quarters of the public who tell pollsters that the country is heading in the wrong direction that he has the better plans -- plans he will describe for economic renewal; relief for millions of borrowers still caught in the housing crisis; higher-paying manufacturing jobs; a fairer tax code; lower energy costs; “a return to American values”; fiscal balance; humane immigration policies; public education that boosts U.S. competitiveness; a safer world; and saner politics?

The president’s to-do list is intended to appear lengthy and bold -- perhaps unrealistically ambitious for a political year in which most analysts expect Congress to balk at taking up even routine legislation. The speech is a work plan and a political platform. It is a weapon, and a shield. Obama will say he has accomplished much, has been thwarted in accomplishing more, and is doing everything possible using his executive authority to improve Americans’ lives. Indeed, his team created a new video advertisement describing his “We Can’t Wait” executive initiatives, most of which have been small-bore without accompanying legislation.

Obama’s third State of the Union address, he explained in a separate campaign video released last week, will tell Americans “how we do it.” The president and his team, keenly aware that Obama’s 2008 election hinged on promising “change” just as Americans tumbled into an excess of unwelcome economic transitions, described Tuesday’s address as a “blueprint for an America built to last.” In other words, Obama will promise a second term of progress marked by stability, instead of change paired with upheaval.