Days into Minnesota’s partial government shutdown, political leaders have maddeningly offered more finger-pointing but little leadership as 9,000 state employees sit unemployed because there is no money to pay for their work. Most Minnesotans probably could accept the impasse if legislative leaders and the governor were working together to develop a compromise to get the state’s government moving again. But political leaders have just offered more rhetoric.

Unfortunately, the entire sad episode mirrors the slide in political leadership in a state once known for its political statesmanship &045; not a positive development for Minnesotans.

Americans have been jaded for years to the political bickering that takes place in Washington, D.C., with some analysts linking the public’s cynicism back to the days of the Watergate scandal. However, even through the 1980s and early 1990s there still was an atmosphere of goodwill among Minnesota politicians. Sure, there were disagreements and heated legislative battles, but rarely was the goal to win just to stick it to the other side. But those days are gone.

Thanks to the increasing pressure from political influences outside the state and the general trend toward more divisive politics, Minnesotans now are treated on a regular basis to the same infuriating political gridlock that happens in Congress.

There’s obviously a myriad of factors that have turned the state Capitol into more of a wrestling ring than a center of state government, but one fix is for both political parties to call for new leadership. Those moderate legislators on each side of the aisle need to learn that collectively they have more power than the few extreme members on the left and right, who tend to dominate party leadership.

If those moderate legislators are as fed up with the process as they say they are, they easily could replace their respective party leaders and give the state a new start. Minnesotans most likely would be happier with that development right now than the Legislature actually coming to terms on a budget agreement.

At least with new political leadership there’d be a fresh opportunity to restore some of the class to Minnesota’s political process and avoid a similar political meltdown next session.

&045; Faribault Daily News