I think there were two messages in last year's election. One is pretty obvious. People were mad as hell at the president [Barack Obama] - and wanted to send a message. We all got that. Our new members were also hearing, and I was hearing as well, that people didn't like the fact that the Congress was dysfunctional. Now they may have been confused about where the dysfunctionality was cause the president kept pointing to the House. Factually, that's not accurate. The dysfunction was in the Senate.

We [Democrats] are looking for things that we think would make a difference, improve the country, and enjoy some bipartisan support.

Republicans will not be reduced to being the tax collectors for the Obama economy.

And this year, when we end the cruel, defeatist practice of passing children who cannot read into fourth grade, and when our most diligent students begin to graduate from high school in 11 years, and get a head start on college costs with the dollars they earned through their hard work, others will take notice of Indiana yet again.

Americans don't think we should be raising taxes on anybody, especially in the middle of a recession.

For four years, Americans have waited for the faintest light to flicker at the end of the tunnel. And this President has let them down again and again and again. It is time to move on. It is time for a leader who will lead. That leader is Mitt Romney.

I think it's not just Republicans who would like to see the Senate run differently. I think there are a reasonable number of Democrats as well.