They say that numbers don't lie. One of Clinton's favorite rhetorical strategies, enumeration, involves appealing to the audience by numbering off his points.

That's what he is doing when he brings up "seven" challenges and "three fundamental questions" (6.1) facing America in 1996. By using the numbers as signposts, Clinton enhances the clarity of his speech for the audience. At the same time, he gives the impression that the speech is comprehensive, as a State of the Union report ought to be.

Nobody really believed that there were only seven important issues or three questions needing to be answered in 1996. (For example, he left out "Why did Shaq agree to Kazaam?") But using the enumeration strategy creates the impression of exhaustiveness.

This is pretty much the "Dick and Jane" of rhetoric. It doesn't get simpler than saying "number one…number two…"