This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Nov. 7, 2010 - It will take Olympian devotion and discipline for a barely victorious governor, slimmer Democratic legislative majorities and beefier Republican minorities to rescue our state from fiscal chaos and secure its future. So, let the games end.
For too many years now, one-upmanship has eclipsed statesmanship in a perpetual campaign. Those who survived ferocious competition to attain or keep power must shift their focus to using it wisely, adroitly and, yes, altruistically. Alkalize the acid. Forthrightly confront the starkness of Illinois' horrific deficit and the specter of impending mediocrity. Prize the state's resurgence over re-election - or betray our children and their children.
Gov. Pat Quinn, the projected winner, must maintain the focus and resolve he mustered in the closing weeks of his pitched battle with Bill Brady to grow into the governorship - something he failed to do during his first 21 months in an amazingly immense and intense job. Given the Blagojevich baggage he was toting, even his tenuous triumph is impressive. Still, it is no affirmation of his erratic leadership. Quinn squared off against a challenger more conservative and intolerant on abortion, gay rights, guns and budgetary issues than any Republican we have elected to statewide office.
He apparently prevailed by default, but he cannot govern that way. He cannot keep yielding to the tug of the moment. Our most effective chief executives have carefully fashioned agendas. They have gathered able teams of advisers and managers. They have valued capable day-to-day management of state government. They have built productive relationships with formidable legislative leaders by earning and showing respect, by knowing when to stand firm and when to give ground. They have listened and learned while leading.
At the same time, our most venerated lawmakers through the decades also have recognized, in the spirit of Ecclesiastes, that there is a time to posture and a time to govern. Even as spring rains have succeeded winter snows outside the State House, we lately have experienced few rotations of season within it.
Let the transformation happen at this crucial juncture in our state's history - even if haltingly.
Bipartisanship offers the best path to the confluence of budget cuts and tax increases that will restore fiscal sanity.
House Speaker Michael J. Madigan and Senate President John J. Cullerton must suppress any instinct to skirt hard budgetary decisions as they shore up eroded majorities. Republican leaders must override similar urges as they plot additional gains in 2012. Madigan and House Republican Leader Tom Cross must move beyond their personal enmity and bury their hatchets - not in each other.
Liberals must accede to spending curbs. Conservatives must accept the reality that our anachronistic tax structure needs reform and bolstering. The citizens of Illinois, especially the youngest, cannot afford the indulgences of selfishness, petulance and ideological insularity.
Madigan and Cullerton often have worked with Republicans to advance major legislation. Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno stands out with her good-government, solution-oriented approach, and Cross has forged constructive coalitions. There is cause for a dash of optimism - particularly if the governor surpasses expectations.
A few weeks ago, at a history conference near the State House, a bright Monmouth College student presented an insightful paper on the relationship between President Lyndon Baines Johnson and Senate Republican Leader Everett McKinley Dirksen, an Illinois legend. They differed sharply on Johnson's Great Society, but Dirksen stood with the Democratic chief executive on civil rights and Vietnam.
Hope Grebner marveled, and no wonder. As she has become politically aware, she has not seen much of such bipartisanship in Washington or Springfield.
It's time she does.
Mike Lawrence, former reporter, press secretary for then-Gov. Jim Edgar and director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University, is retired. He writes a twice-monthly column.