There are a number of things in which we Mainers pride ourselves. Common sense, rugged independence and pulling together when times are tough are among them.

When it comes to politics, Mainers have long taken pride in leaders who exhibit these same qualities through civility, bipartisanship and a willingness to put campaigns behind them when the elections are over, and work together across the political aisle for the benefit of the people they have been elected to serve.

Dating back to the legendary Margaret Chase Smith, Maine has sent a succession of leaders to Washington who have distinguished themselves by putting good policy ahead of the party line. Our two current senators, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, are the latest in a long line of Maine political figures fitting that mold. Even as their party controls both branches of Congress and the White House, our senators have honored Maine’s legacy through their willingness to work with colleagues of both parties, in a spirit of mutual respect, to produce thoughtful solutions to a host of issues.

Yet in our own state capitol, as Maine faces tough fiscal times, the concept of bipartisanship has suffered a serious setback.

When confronted with sincere differences over how to structure a supplemental budget measure to plug a $109 million shortfall in the state budget, Gov. Baldacci and the Demo-cratic majority in the Legislature abruptly shut down negotiations, rammed through their own party-line budget, and employed a tortured series of parliamentary maneuvers that adjourned the Legislature in mid-session, called a special session, and rammed through a questionable measure to change the rules and avoid the embarrassing constitutional consequences of their tactics: extra pay for legislators during the special session.

Their rationale for the heavy-handed partisan tactics? Republicans had raised questions about the consequences of the governor’s plan to use $53 million in one-time federal funding afforded by the Collins amendment to the Bush tax cuts. This money was intended specifically to help Maine pay for existing programs, but the governor opted to divert it to the newly created Dirigo Health Plan.

But, faced with a $109 million shortfall, and concern that the Baldacci plan could further escalate health care costs by cutting hospitals’ Medicaid reimbursements and imposing a new tax on them through a risky “tax-and-match” scheme, Republicans preferred to consider dedicating $18 million of the $53 million in federal funding to the purpose for which it was originally intended – paying for existing programs.

The governor’s inflammatory allegation equating disagreement with his proposal with an effort to “cripple” the Dirigo program ignores the fact that many Republicans voted for Dirigo. The governor’s attack is not only counterproductive but it seems disingenuous to suggest that a funding level of $35 million rather than $53 million would single-handedly cripple a program whose long-term budget is undetermined and is not slated to be fully implemented until 2009.

No matter how laudable Dirigo may be, at a time when the state’s budget shortfall threatens so many crucial priorities, it is not unreasonable for the Legislature to engage in a thoughtful debate to weigh the impact of the governor’s proposal on struggling rural hospitals and pharmacies, vital existing programs such as aid to local education, and the threat that it may drive up tuition at the University of Maine and community college systems.

Regrettably, rather than engage in a constructive discussion to narrow their differences, the Bangor Daily News (Jan. 31-Feb. 1) reported that Gov. Baldacci and legislative Demo-crats declared their Republican colleagues “intractable” for pursuing “unrealistic compromises.”

This harsh rhetoric and destructive partisanship were disappointing, and suggest that those in control in Augusta fail to comprehend the very essence of bipartisan collaboration. Sometimes the true mark of leadership is the ability to pause, take a deep breath and go back to the table. However, by assuming a my-way-or-the-highway approach, the governor and his legislative allies slammed the door on any possibility of thoughtful dialogue that could have produced a broadly accepted compromise.

Ironically, during my 17 years working with Sen. Snowe, whenever she was asked about her trademark bipartisan and constructive approach to her work on Capitol Hill, she hearkened back to her experience as a member of Maine Legislature during the 1970s, when collegial bipartisanship was the norm in Augusta.

I can’t help but think that, if a future U.S. senator is now serving in the Maine Legislature, he or she will not be able to draw upon these times as a lesson in bipartisanship. In fact, the very notion appears to be an antiquated concept in the Maine Legislature of 2004.

One person with a unique perspective is Jill Goldthwait, who served four terms as the only independent member of the Maine Senate. Commenting on this matter in a recent column (Ellsworth American, Feb. 29), Gold-thwait correctly observed that “[t]he majority has gotten its way, but at some cost to the delicate balance that keeps everyone at the table.” Goldthwait went on to note that “[t]he minority must take its lumps, but complete disenfranchisement should not be one of them.”

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The simple fact is that no party has a monopoly on good ideas. The native common sense in which we Mainers pride ourselves tells us that. Deep down, even the most aggressively partisan member of the Legislature must recognize that thoughtful solutions to vexing policy questions are most often a result of cooperation, communication and conciliation.

We will need a healthy supply of all three for even greater tests that lie ahead. We now know that the structural gap in the state budget for 2006-07 is estimated at a staggering $934 million (BDN, Feb. 20). Maine must successfully confront the looming challenge of how to eliminate it, enact meaningful tax reform, position our state to create jobs, and avoid a painful repeat of these circumstances in future years. For that to happen, the culture in Augusta must change from one of arrogance and unilateral action to one of mutual respect and collaboration.

After one-party control of the Maine House for the past 30 years, and the Maine Senate for 18 of the last 22 years, voters are watching closely. With the oncoming shortfall and growing voter frustration with Maine’s high taxes and uncompetitive jobs climate, if those in power in Augusta can’t bring themselves to engage in bipartisan cooperation now, they may find they have no choice but to do so after the votes of Maine people are counted this November.

Kevin Raye, a former chief of staff to Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and the 2002 2nd Congressional District GOP nominee, is a candidate for the Maine Senate in District 29.