Both sides of aisle watching Obama tonight

There's no argument among the three congressional members who represent Western Nevada what President Barack Obama must aim for, and Congress must do, is learn to work together.

Tonight, Obama delivers his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress, a speech that is expected to be an appeal to the middle class and designed to put pressure on Congress to raise taxes on the nation's richest citizens and help business expand hiring.

"I know each one of my colleagues in the Senate - regardless of political party - has the courage to stand up and speak in defense of his or her principles," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. "This year, I hope we each find the courage and faith to listen and cooperate as well."

Referring to what he described on Meet the Press as Republican "obstructionism on steroids," Democrat Reid said Congress cannot have another year like this past year. He said the two parties must find common ground and work together.

"I remind my Republican colleagues that not every discussion should collapse into a fight," he said.

Sen. Dean Heller, a Republican, echoed the same theme in an interview earlier this month, saying the American people want solutions, not partisan gridlock.

"We need to quit playing games and solve the problems.

"One of the things that needs to change is, if both sides get 80 percent of what they want, they should be happy," Heller said. "That's what Ronald Reagan said."

He said that if Americans don't get a Congress and a president willing to work together this coming year, "we may see a change in the presidency, a change in the majority in the Senate, and a change in the majority of the House." Democrats hold a small majority of the Senate, while the GOP holds sway in the House.

While Rep. Mark Amodei, a Republican, praised the president's oratorical skills, he said he is concerned that the ongoing mood in Washington has "produced more rhetoric than it does policy."

First-termer Amodei, who has previously served in the state Senate and Assembly, said in a recent interview that his first 70 days in D.C. were frustrating because the debate always degenerates to "Republicans want to kill old people, and Democrats want to drive every business out of business."

"It seems like it's politics first, facts and issues second," he said.

"Everybody gets what the Democrats want - more revenue - and everybody gets what the Republicans want - less spending," said Amodei. "The question is do (the nation's needs) get met when the house is still standing, or do we wait 'til the house burns down?"

He said Americans are at the point where they are demanding meaningful change from their elected officials to help businesses recover, create jobs and reduce the federal debt.

"This requires thoughtfulness, dialog, action and compromise," he said.

Heller and Amodei both said a key is to pass a federal budget, which hasn't happened in nearly three years. Heller said business needs the stability a budget gives them.

"When we don't pass a budget, we create so much uncertainty (that) they won't hire," he said. "Businesses need confidence, need certainty."

Reid called for common-sense policies to protect the middle class and smart investments in infrastructure to create jobs. He said a key is to combat income inequality, "or the rich will keep getting richer and the poor getting poorer while the middle class disappears."

He said the worst example of gridlock was the length of time it took Republicans to approve extending the payroll tax cut. Letting that expire would have cost 160 million American workers over $1,000 a year. Tea party supporters in Congress, he said, held out despite being urged by their own leadership to support the extension.

As quoted by The Hill, a political publication in Washington, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., told his caucus that if they vote against the extension, "You aren't a Republican."

"It shouldn't have been a fight in the first place," said Reid.

He repeated that, this year, it will be important for all in Congress to "summon the courage to sit down and listen."

Designed as a way for a president to update the nation and recommend ideas to Congress, the State of the Union address has become more than that, especially during that one window when the address falls during the re-election year of an incumbent. It is televised theater - and Obama's biggest, best chance so far to offer a vision for a second term.

He will frame the campaign to come as a fight for fairness for those who are struggling to keep a job, a home or college savings and losing faith in how the county works.

The speech will be principally about the economy, featuring the themes of manufacturing, clean energy, education and American values.

No matter whom Obama faces in November, the election is likely to be driven by the economy - and determined by which candidate wins voters' trust on how to fix it. More people than not disapprove of Obama's handling of the economy.

The overarching political goal is to give voters a contrast between his vision of a government that he says tries to level the playing field and those office-seekers who, in his view, would leave people on their own. Without naming them, Obama has in his sights those after his job, including the two leading Republicans, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

The presidential campaign sets an unmistakable context for the speech, right down to the nation's income gap between haves and have-nots. The lines of argument between Obama and his rivals are already stark, with America's economic insecurity and the role of government at the center.

The president has offered signals about his speech, telling campaign supporters he wants an economy "that works for everyone, not just a wealthy few."

Gingrich, on the other hand, calls Obama "the most effective food-stamp president in history."

Romney says Obama "wants to turn America into a European-style entitlement society."

Obama's tone will be highly scrutinized, given that his address falls smack in the middle of a fierce and frenzied Republican presidential nomination process. He will make bipartisan overtures to lawmakers but will leave little doubt that he'll he act without his opponents when it's necessary and possible, an approach his aides say has let him stay on offense.

• The Associated Press contributed to this report.