Right now, there are nearly 30 jobs bills passed by the House with support from both Republicans and Democrats that are awaiting action in the Democratic-run Senate.

We are hopeful that President Obama, in his State of the Union Address, will express a willingness to work with Republicans to enact all of these jobs bills.

Now the Democrats control the Senate. But the good news is that now the Republicans can admit that Strom Thurmond has been dead since 1988.

Democrats are right, by the way, when they complain about the way President Clinton's judicial nominations were handled by Republicans. We bottled them up in the Judiciary Committee, which was the functional equivalent of a filibuster. It was crazy, but the cycle of retribution needs to end.

Right now, if I had to bet would the Democrats take the House and Senate back, I'd say no. But are the odds a heck of a lot better than they were three months ago or six months ago? Heck, yes.

Jay Townsend has offered, and I have accepted, his resignation from his position with my campaign. Now let's return to talking about issues that really matter to families: job creation, spending restraint and economic development.