It's easy for citizens who want the best government in America to feel alone. Public officials have become adept at justifying mediocrity and corruption, at portraying reformers as a small minority of citizens, and at changing the subject to distract attention from their poor quality.

But we are not alone! Thanks to polling by various organizations, we know that Pennsylvania citizens want a better government than we have.

• In May 2006, only 20% of us thought the legislature was doing an excellent or good job, down from 36% in February of 2000, according to data from the Floyd Center for Public Policy at Franklin and Marshall College.
• Just one month before that poll in April 2006, only one-fourth of us (26%) trusted our legislature to do the right thing. IssuesPA.
• Two-thirds of us (66%) want to ban gifts from lobbyists to public officials. IssuesPA.
• Two-thirds of us (69%) want to limit how much candidates for the legislature can raise from outside their districts. IssuesPA.