President Obama speaking in his last State of the Union address before the presidential election has told Congress the defining issue of the time is how to keep alive the promise that hard work is rewarded.

In what many see as the opening shots of his election campaign he said that America had a choice between a future where a few were rich and many struggled or an economy where everyone gets a fair shot.

His opponents say he is trying to promote class war far and divide America.

North America editor Mark Mardell reports from Washington.

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