The current political climate, like all political climates, is analyzed in broad terms. We’re told that it was spawned by anger about spending and taxes, determination to change course, philosophical differences about moral issues.

As usual, the decisions of Nov. 2 will be treated as a referendum on the long-term course of the states and the nation.

But what will really happen that day is that history will be determined by voter turnout and, to a lesser extent, last-second impulses. And then we’ll head toward the next future-defining election two years from now.

It’s especially likely this year that the most upset citizens will head for the polls. In politics, the squeaky wheel doesn’t just get the grease; it rolls to the store and demands it. People who take a more dispassionate or uncertain view don’t always get around to voting.

There’s plenty of emotion on display this season. Unemployment and budget deficits have pushed many Americans near a breaking point. Emotion is not necessarily a bad thing for determining destinies; emotion arises from strong beliefs, and those are the mark of people who truly care about government.

However, we’re not looking for rule by hotheads. The more thoughtful citizens, those who see all sides of an issue and know that big change requires patience, need to take part, too.

As with voting, so with governing. Here in Iowa, it would be interesting to get that mix by seeing the Republicans gain an edge in the House of Representatives while the Democrats continue to rule the Senate.

You can call it “gridlock,” but it just might be that having both parties share power is the purest form of democracy. Rather than have one side getting carried away and the other side sitting with folded arms, it’s good to push both sides into the ring and make them hash things out. There was a time when “compromise” was not considered the coward’s way, but a reasonable method of making decisions.