Some want to hear him talk about social issues, such as immigration or marriage equality.

Others want to hear a more economically focused message.

But more than that, Mainers said they want to hear some semblance that President Barack Obama is willing and able to work with Congress to get something done.

Obama, halfway through his second term, is set to deliver his sixth State of the Union address Tuesday night before a House and Senate now both controlled by Republicans.

Mainers who talked Monday about what they would like to hear Obama say differed greatly on the issues important to them, but all wanted to see whether he can actually unite.

“I’d like to hear him say he is going to accomplish something instead of vetoing or sidestepping (Congress) or not being cooperative,” said Jack Rozelle, a 69-year-old retiree from Portland. “It seems as though we need action.”

Pamela Lanz, 64, of Gorham said she, too, wants the president to find more compromise with lawmakers, but she’s not convinced that will happen.

“I’ve been discouraged ever since he became president because I had high hopes,” Lanz said. “I think a lot of things he’s tried have been stymied. … But I think his heart is in the right place.”

A Washington Post/ABC News poll released Monday showed Obama with an approval rating of 50 percent, his highest since May 2013 and similar to President Ronald Reagan’s poll numbers when he began his last two years in office.

However, that same poll revealed that the president’s opposition remains fiercer than his support. Roughly 35 percent of those polled strongly opposed Obama, while 24 percent strongly supported him. Among Republicans, with whom he must now work to accomplish anything, he has just a 14 percent approval rate.

Some details of the president’s speech remain unknown, but enough have been revealed to offer a glimpse.

His message is likely to be tailored to the middle class, particularly a renewed plan to shift the income tax burden from middle class workers to higher earners by expanding tax credits to working parents and students and closing tax breaks for the wealthy.

“I love the idea,” said Jacob Tyler Michaud, 22, of Portland. “But in regards to what’s best or what’s right, I don’t know. Taxes are tricky.”

Emily Joy, 27, who works in Portland and lives in Westbrook, said she wants to hear more details about the president’s tax plan but is not convinced it’s the right way to go.

Specifics aside, she said, she doesn’t believe the president has been listening to the people.

“We need to start working together. We’re hurting,” said Joy, who is expecting a child in two weeks. “What kind of future (is my child) going to have?”

Obama also is expected to talk more about his plan to make community college free to some Americans, an initiative that comes with an estimated price tag of $60 billion.

Alexandra Welch, 17, a senior at Lincoln Academy in Damariscotta, said she loves the idea.

“I don’t think you necessarily need to go to college for a job, especially in Maine, but it is important to have well-educated citizens,” she said.

Joy said she likes the idea, too, but not if it means more government spending.

Rozelle said he thinks funding community colleges is a great way to spend tax money.

Mainers interviewed Monday said they would like to see the president talk about other issues as well.

Welch said she would like to see Obama come out forcefully in favor of same-sex marriage nationwide.

Joy said she doesn’t think the president has done enough to stop ISIS, the violent jihadist group operating in Syria and Iraq.

Lanz said she wants to hear more about immigration policy.

Matthew Gagnon, CEO of the Maine Heritage Policy Center, a right-leaning small government policy organization, said none of the State of the Union details revealed so far are particularly bold.

Gagnon said he would personally like to see the president strike a more conciliatory tone, similar to the one former President Clinton adopted after the 1994 election that saw Republicans take control of Congress.

“He changed his focus, his rhetoric,” Gagnon said of Clinton. “I’d like to hear this president do something similar. I don’t expect him to abandon his principles, but he can recognize the will of voters.”

Clinton, in his State of the Union address in 1996, famously declared that “the era of big government is over.” He then worked with Republicans to pass the landmark Welfare Reform Act.

Gagnon is less hopeful that Obama will be willing to cooperate.

“It seems he’s gone in the opposite direction. He’s become more combative,” he said.

Phil Bartlett, chairman of the Maine Democratic Party, said Democrats are excited about Obama’s speech and his initiatives, particularly his plans to provide tax relief for the middle class.

“He’s going to talk about the importance of protecting the middle class,” Bartlett said. “Average Americans have not benefited from any economic growth. They’re being left behind.”

Bartlett said he believes the president will continue to express a “willingness and eagerness” to work with Republicans in Congress, but not at the expense of compromising his own progressive vision.

He said Clinton has worked with Congress in some areas but also used his executive authority in others, and he expects Obama to do the same.