Two words: not good.

About an hour from now President Obama will deliver his final State of the Union address.

And I'm sure some of you are applauding the word "final."

A new CBS News poll tells the story.

Just 27% of Americans believe the USA is heading in the right direction.

A whopping 65% say the country's on the wrong track.

That includes 47% of Democrats.

This time last year 38% of Americans felt the country was heading for a good place; 56% dissented.

So, why the negative change in 12 months?

First of all, the ISIS situation remains intense and the millions of refugees streaming into Europe is a disgrace.  None of that should have happened, and President Obama still has no solution to the jihadist problem.

Secondly, American workers are not making enough money to prosper.

All these jobs numbers are pretty much bogus; it's how much the jobs pay that counts.

And working people know employers have the upper hand.  Workers have little bargaining power in this soft economy.

CBS also asked about President Obama's job approval rating:

• 46% approve

• 47% disapprove

This time last year 46% approved, 46% disapproved.

Obviously, little change.

The reason President Obama is not doing worse in that category is that many Americans like him personally.

They feel he's trying, and some of his policies are pleasing to the left.

On the right many Americans despise the president.

But in the middle, folks seem to know the country is not in a good place, but they are not holding it against President Obama, per se.

Finally, the poll asked about past presidents at this point in their terms, where they were in the polls. 

George W. Bush had an approval rating of 29%; 62% disapproved.

Bill Clinton 60% approval; 31% disapproved.

Ronald Reagan 50% approved; 35% disapproved.

It is worth noting that Bush the younger had Iraq and a faltering economy on his hands.

And Ronald Reagan had fallout from Iran-Contra in his last year.

Tonight President Obama will put forth an optimistic vision.  He has to, he can't tell the country the truth because that would destroy his legacy.

And the truth is that no matter what America faces, we can overcome it.

But we have to start problem-solving and stop with all the ideology.

And that's the memo.