In light of his dwindling approval rating and a nearly universal lack of support for his key initiatives, President Barack Obama has a lot on his plate to confer in his sixth State of the Union Address, to say the least.

And although you can never be certain about what the president will say, the odds that he will fail to address select principal issues toward the midpoint of his second term are highly unlikely. 

Although many critics of the president, such as Marc Thiessen of The Washington Post, have speculated otherwise, there is no doubt in my mind that the defense and promotion of the Affordable Care Act will be a central theme of the president’s State of the Union.

Despite the fact that its implementation has suffered minor setbacks such as the roll-out of Healthcare.gov and the president’s promise that patients could keep their old insurance plans under the new law, Obamacare has exhibited significant improvements in recent months and shows marked potential for future successes.

For instance, Obama will likely tout the recent increases in healthcare enrollment which topped out at 3 million earlier this month. Although this figure is shy of the original estimates, it is nonetheless a 36 percent increase of total enrollees thus far in the month of January alone.

Moreover, the president will likely note the vast majority of criticisms of the healthcare law are ephemeral in nature, and despite its shaky initial unraveling, the ACA will provide important and permanent changes to the healthcare system that the people of the United States have drastically needed for a long time.

Also on the list of indispensable subjects in his speech is the fulfillment of the president’s promise to end the war in Afghanistan. Nearing the end of the longest war in U.S. history, the president will likely outline the details of his plans to have the troops out of Afghanistan by the end of the year. 

Though the deal with Afghan President Hamid Karzai is not yet set in stone, its provisions contain a continued U.S. presence in the region, including up to 10,000 troops  mostly for the purposes of counter-terrorism and training Afghan security forces, according to the National Journal. 

Considering that a shift in public opinion about income inequality has taken place in the past year among Americans, the president would be tactful to mention ambitions for increased wages and job creation, as he did in his last State of the Union. 

Interestingly, the president appeared to be a trend-setter in this avenue of public policy last year. Since the surprise mention of his support for a federal minimum wage, more than 30 different states have introduced minimum wage legislation, and California has passed legislation to increase its minimum wage to $9 on July 1.

If the president can utilize his influence, as he did last year, to exploit the shift in public opinion regarding economic inequality, he will be remembered throughout history as a leader of the working class.

Despite his executive orders, the president does not have much to show for the effort his administration has put forth to decrease the availability of high capacity magazines and assault weapons. Given these circumstances, it is unlikely that the president will neglect to make a point about his continual efforts to reduce gun-related violence. 

Finally, of all the things that you can expect to see in his speech, the immigration issue will certainly not go untouched. These last two years are the president’s last chance to make any of the long-lasting changes that he campaigned about, and immigration reform is an issue that many congressional Republicans have appeared more likely to compromise on now than ever before. 

As previously mentioned, it is impossible to tell exactly what the president will say. But in any case, as Obama nears the end of his period of legislative influence, it is clear that no matter what he says, he will say it in a way to distinguish himself from his lame-duck predecessors.