(CNN) -- In Tuesday night's State of the Union address, President Obama is expected to focus on the crisis of widening inequality in America. This is good. And it's no surprise. Over the last few years, he has tried to draw attention to the decimation of the middle class over recent decades. He's explained the scope of the problem -- that the severity of today's inequality is akin to what preceded the Great Depression. He's adopted a catchphrase -- prosperity from the "middle out" -- and forced Republicans to talk about the issue. And he's proposed policies to address it.
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Eric Liu: President Obama must do more than list policy fixes for inequality at SOTU
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Liu: He needs to reckon with those who have mixed emotions about "falling behind"
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He says the heart must be acknowledged and its pain and fear must be named
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Liu: Obama must tell those who feel shame for being poor to do away with self-blame
Obama just has to be @placeholder -- the author who acutely sensed and articulated the cross currents of ambition and anxiety around him; the organizer who could navigate the unspoken tensions of identity that influence politics.