Remember last January when everyone was predicting that with a nearly even balance of power between Democrats and Republicans in the Iowa General Assembly, the 2005 legislative session would be a veritable love fest? Why, there was no end to what might be accomplished with both sides cooperating with each other. It was a chance for courageous action, for Iowa to move beyond the gridlock that had defined previous sessions.

That talk disappeared quickly, like smoke. Not even a wisp of it remains as the Legislature lumbers into its third week without pay. If anything, the contentiousness between the two parties has been accelerated, not diminished.

Oh, there have been some accomplishments. Funding for the Grow Iowa Values Fund appears to have been restored. Legislators passed the toughest anti-methamphetamine bill in the country and put pedophiles on notice. The lawmakers took a baby step toward mental health parity, a commitment they will need to build on in future sessions. Medicaid funding has been restored. And it appears that Gov. Tom Vilsack will get $21.5 million of the $39.1 million he asked for to fund early-childhood education programs, another first step on an important initiative that should, in the long run, return up to $7 in benefits for every $1 invested through increased tax revenues; decreased expenditures for things like health care, public assistance and other social services; lower criminal justice system costs; and lower expenditures for special and remedial education.

But we were hoping for something bold and avant-garde, something that would have the big-city editorial writers urging politicians to look to little Iowa for examples on leadership that cuts through political partisanship.

It’s easy for legislators to blame the other party. It’s the Democrats who are holding things up. It’s the Republicans who are slowing things down. Neither statement is true. What is true is there’s a glaring lack of statesmanship in both parties. We look forward to the day when the only identifiable Democrats and Republicans are those in leadership positions, when legislators come to Des Moines and vote their consciences rather than their party’s ideology, and when lawmekrs are more interested in building a brighter, more economically just future for all Iowans than in protecting their political careers.

We’re permitted to dream, aren’t we?