Op-Ed: The midterm results (so far) show that old political narratives don’t apply to today’s voters – and need to be updated. By Michael Mears
In the closing days of the campaign I spent time talking with voters in suburban Chicago about all the candidates who are running for their city’s U.S. Senate seats.
What I heard from those voters was that their concerns were not limited to the economy and jobs, the need to rebuild our infrastructure or the need for spending restraint in Washington.
Rather, by and large, they are deeply disappointed that the Republican Party they voted for isn’t fulfilling their promises.
They want a new start. They want a party that can get things done and is willing to work together. And instead they hear that the party they once supported is now “anti-business” and that it’s “anti-jobs.”
They want a change that is a return to what they hoped for when they cast their votes for Obama. They want a fresh start.
They want the opportunity to have a genuine relationship with the next President.
Not to mention that these voters want a change from a candidate who, by and large, has been making the same promises he had made almost a year ago.
At this point in this campaign we’re two months into it, and there are many similarities. There are also very clear differences.
For instance, with each one of the Republican candidates running for one of the U.S. Senate seats in this election, I have seen the promise that someone like Rand Paul would give the people of Kentucky a voice in Washington.
He will bring to the Senate a new perspective – a perspective that is grounded in reality and an ability to be trusted.
And I have seen the promise that a candidate like Mitt Romney will be tough on national security and on the military.
He will bring to the Senate a perspective that is rooted in the Constitution and an ability to put the security
