Democrats must focus on solutions

The Democrats have regained the steering wheel in Congress, after many years in the passenger seat.

It will be interesting to see what they are able to accomplish, and how much (or how quickly) their agenda is changed by being the party in power.

There are certainly many opportunities for reform, including a much-needed look at ethics in the wake of a variety of scandals in the past session.

There are also many problems confronting us that can't be solved with sound bites. Social Security, Medicare, national security, illegal immigration and the future of our economy all need to be confronted instead of avoided.

Although some in Congress will be tempted to wield their new power like a club against the Bush administration, we doubt that will win them many friends among the general public.

What this country is starved for is solution-oriented leadership. If either party throws off the shackles of partisanship and aspires to statesmanship, then it will be assured of long support in future elections.

If not, we will be writing the same warning to the Republicans again in two or four years.

The new leaders in Congress would be wise to follow the example of Kalispell's Matt Himsl, who was known as a statesman during his 24 years in the Montana Legislature.

Himsl, who died Saturday at 94, distinguished himself as a thoughtful giant in Montana politics. He not only served admirably in Helena, but also was chairman of the Flathead County Republican Party for 12 years and was a Montana delegate to the 1964 Republican National Convention.

He was highly respected on both sides of the political aisle and was compared by a local Democratic leader to Montana's Mike Mansfield.

Himsl was a school superintendent, auto dealer, radio-station owner and bank director during his long life. His public service extended, too, to a host of community organizations and causes.

Himsl will be missed by many, but he leaves us with a solid legacy of leadership and civic involvement.

Sen. Sam Kitzenberg, D-Glasgow, got a scolding on the first day of the Legislative session, and he shouldn't have been surprised.

In his opening remarks on the Senate floor Wednesday, Senate Minority Leader Cory Stapleton, R-Billings, blasted Kitzenberg for switching parties shortly after the November elections, giving Democrats a one-vote majority in the state Senate.

Stapleton rightly said the switch violated the trust of voters who backed Kitzenberg as a Republican, and the collective will of the Montana electorate that divided the Senate evenly. Voters didn't give Democrats the majority, Kitzenberg did.

Stapleton was overly gracious, we think, in not mentioning Kitzenberg's convenient appointment to a cushy Department of Revenue job last year, despite having flimsy experience to justify his hiring.

At the very least, Kitzenberg's switch has the appearance of impropriety that taints the legitimacy of the Senate's Democratic majority. But he doesn't think it's all that noteworthy, saying that Stapleton's comments weren't "the way to begin a session."

Did he expect Republicans to forget his role in how the session began?