US politics turns ugly despite Obama’s efforts

As the US president prepares to make his final State of the Union address, Bette Browne says the widespread optimism that greeted his election has given way to division and acrimony.

US PRESIDENT Barack Obama delivers his final State of the Union address tomorrow, bringing to a close a stirring chapter in America’s history that saw his election as the country’s first black president.

But much has changed eight years later and an ugly national mood now threatens to erode such progress.