White House press secretary Robert Gibbs says President Barack Obama hopes to use Wednesday night's State of the Union message to assure people the country is on the right track.
At the same time, Obama's spokesman conceded on NBC's "Today" show that "every president makes mistakes, including Barack Obama."
Gibbs said Obama has "not been shy" about admitting mistakes, and that he wants the speech to convey a can-do spirit for the coming decade. He confirmed that Obama will embrace new tax cuts for small businesses to spur hiring and ease unemployment.
House Republican Whip Eric Cantor said people "want to hear that the president has listened and that the president has learned" about how to make Washington work better for the country.
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