President Obama's State of the Union blueprint for economic recovery relies heavily on government intervention and tax hikes on the wealthy, but will likely do little to lower the temperature in Washington or gain traction in an election year, say lawmakers and analysts who wonder why the president didn't address the most critical factor for growth -- eliminating debt.

President Obama heads out on the road Wednesday to visit battlegrounds states where he will try to sell his agenda, and his reelection bid, outlined in a lengthy address to Congress and the nation on Tuesday night.

In an ambitious speech that focused on manufacturing, clean energy investment and educational training as economic opportunities, the president said he wants to return America to prosperity by eliminating inequalities that he claims favor the rich at the expense of the rest. He prioritized extending a payroll tax cut and suggested raising the rates on wealthy Americans to pay for it.

"Right now, we're poised to spend nearly $1 trillion more on what was supposed to be a temporary tax break for the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans," the president said. "Do we want to keep these tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans? Or do we want to keep our investments in everything else -- like education and medical research; a strong military and care for our veterans? Because if we're serious about paying down our debt, we can't do both"...