The mood of the electorate

I've been talking to voters in recent days, trying to bring them out to vote for David Cicilline on November 2. I'm very encouraged at how clearly most folks reject the Republican chorus of misinformation that floods the airwaves. Yet these same voters still (rightly) demand a positive reason to vote for Democrats beyond distrust of Republicans. Many expressed hope that David Cicilline won't run away from the obligation to continue working for the people once he gets to Washington. They like his support for campaign finance reform. Here in Rhode Island people are fed up with the poor performance of both the business and political establishments. What will work here should work everywhere in the U.S. Candidates shouldn't make unrealistic promises or sugarcoat the realities we face. Given the choice between a reasonable, honest agenda and pie-in-the-sky most voters have enough common sense to choose the former. Candidates shouldn't waste their time trying to appease bigots and fools, let them rant on Fox News while the sane majority votes in a responsible manner. Voters don't expect to agree with their political representatives on every issue. What they do expect (and deserve) is that these representatives operate in a transparent, principled, and logically consistent fashion to promote the public good.