It’s difficult to remember the last time I heard Sen. Harry Reid, Rep. Nancy Pelosi or State Rep. Pat Bauer offer up an original idea. I’m talking about a legitimate, substantive idea; something that might actually be feasible to accomplish and would benefit America. Seriously, it’s been a while.

I guess I can understand why I haven’t heard such a thing lately. It is so much easier to sit back and lob grenades at incumbents and the majority from behind a fort made of weak leadership. It seems the airwaves, newspapers, and Web sites used for their "positive" propaganda now rip apart anything and everything said and done by anyone who may have demonstrated any form of vision or creativity. And I understand why. If you can’t win on substance, personal attacks should rule the day…right?

In all reality though, it’s oddly apparent that the things that unite us are far greater than that which divides us. We just disagree on the who, how, and where.

Harry Truman said, “If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog.” I’ve got three. I realize that politics is hardly the friendliest of professions. I realize there are times when you are going to have to criticize the ideas that your opponent proposes, but does it have to start and STOP there?

Instead, let’s elevate the level of discourse. Let’s talk about the issues in a way that works toward building a solution, not merely tearing down the idea or the person behind it. Instead of spending our time and energy beating each other up, let’s do something that matters.