The opportunity for partisanship in the recent Maine ballot-tampering case has proved irresistible for Republicans. They should hold fire: If widespread tampering by Democrats is found, those actions will do more damage than will any crowing by the opposition. If the investigation finds nothing beyond the District 38 race, the GOP doesn’t need the reputation for having overreacted in its glee at seeing the speaker of the house in an uncomfortable position.

Both parties must focus on what surely will be a long, painful process: agreeing on a budget for the next biennium. Already, the animosity between the parties has risen over the ballot-tampering charges. Republicans have a right to be angered by this crime, but they also have a duty to work with fellow legislators to ensure that state government continues to function.

Augusta spin doctors are putting out the word that Attorney General Michael Carpenter, a Democrat, might not be fully pursuing all leads in his investigation. But there is no evidence for this, and U.S. Attorney Richard Cohen, a Republican, has been and remains completely involved in the case. Smears to the contrary are harmful to the case and to the dignity of the Legislature.

Contention between parties has been building since the budget shortfalls of the last several years. This year was supposed to be different. A large freshman class concerned less with party ideology than with serving constituents promised change. Speaker John Martin announced that he would undertake a new, more inclusive style. Republicans, tired of being relegated to the dark corners of the House and Senate chambers, said they wanted a greater voice and pledged to work with leadership.

The ballot-tampering case has ripped the veneer from those goodwill offerings, and the state is left with the parties snarling at each other once again. The parties can each act to keep the Legislature focued on priorities:

Democrats should cooperate as fully as possible in the investigation. The longer the case drags out, the larger the scandal is going to look.

Republicans should gloat privately. If the news is as bad as the GOP has claimed, the Democrats already will have sunk themselves.