One of H.L. Mencken’s more cheerfully inane quotes is making the e-mail rounds, the one about how as democracy is perfected, the office of president more closely represents the inner soul of the people, so that one day “the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.” Not bad, though as happens often enough in Mencken’s oeuvre, it appears to sprinkle its ridicule equally while actually flattering the writer and (but of course) the enlightened reader.

Ridicule in politics is sometimes ego-puncturingly satisfying. Mostly, though, it is a means for an easy laugh at politicians, of whom the public demands competence when it wants tax reform and banana-peel pratfalls when it desires an increase in its sense of comparative self-worth. Reading our deepest longings into our political establishment is nothing new, but if instead of seeking objects of fabulous ridicule you desire merely that a political body work well, you are forced to abandon Mr. Mencken’s stereotypical politicians for those you actually live with.

Maine got three new political leaders and a returning one this week; they are the people who will run the Legislature and determine whether the sweet glories of representative government prevail or the banana peels of infamy will be handed out. Recall when we left our lawmakers last spring they had not only failed to enact tax reform, they had failed unpleasantly: The parties were unhappy with each other, the two houses weren’t getting along and almost no one thought the governor had done enough. At the end, legislative leaders were exchanging notes rather than talking to each other. It was as clear an invitation to ridicule as you’ll find.

I called the four leaders the other day to see how things were going now. I wanted to know how, specifically, did they intend to work with the opposing party to make better legislation? Their responses were commonplace, so close to boilerplate you’d think they’d been uttered by a member of Congress. But they are right, and that makes them worth repeating.

Democratic Senate President Beth Edmonds: “We’ve already met once and I plan to meet with the leaders weekly. Be a diplomat. Be inclusive. Be a leader so that when we have to disagree, we do it respectfully. There will be policy differences, but these aren’t personal differences.”

Republican Senate Minority Leader Paul Davis: “I like her suggestion that we get together once a week, at dinner or breakfast, just for the sake of talking and rubbing shoulders. We need to talk each morning to see what’s on the agenda. We didn’t do a lot of that last time and it hurt.”

Republican House Minority Leader David Bowles: “We are going to work, and we hope they [Democrats] will join us, to reduce the occasionally acrimonious tones that have sometimes emanated from here in the past. … We intend to be more open in our relationship and expect that will be reciprocated.”

Democratic Speaker of the House John Richardson: “This starts with trust, which I believe I have with my Republican colleagues. You have to reach a bipartisan solution; knowing how to get to a win-win situation will help us get there. … It’s when you stop talking that people begin to separate. They may not always like what I’m doing, but they’ll know why I’m doing it.”

Consider at least that these lawmakers are now on the record, pledging to cooperate, to keep talking to the other party, to behave like adults. It’s only November, when experience has yet to cloud the clear sentiment of good will. Regular joint meetings, bipartisan bills, trust and respect will be harder to come by in February and harder still in April. You’ll get a sense by watching for a couple of signs whether they are going to keep their word or slip into last year’s behavior.

Tax reform is the first large test – if it is not bipartisan or if several competing bills are fought over, lawmakers aren’t working together. Speaker Richardson proposes a business court, like family court, to speed and simplify the legal dealings of Maine businesses. Republicans should be eager to help on such a bill. A budget bill with two-thirds’ support would be the clearest sign of all that the mood had changed in Augusta.

Look too for divisive bills: a proposed big jump in the minimum wage, big cuts in workers’ comp, anything on gay marriage. Leadership knows the reaction those bills will get. This isn’t to say there’s anything wrong with submitting bills that represent important principles to a legislator or constituents, but how those bills are written, whether they include any compromises, how the committees report them out, etc., set the tone and steer the debate.

The four top legislative leaders strike me as sincere and determined to improve over last year’s performance. They seem to understand that bills really are better when a variety of political views are included before legislation is passed, that ultimately more work will get done by slowing down to treat each other respectfully. Even so, they will probably hear at sometime a local version of the Mencken-moron observation. It may make them feel better to know that despite the e-mailers’ application of it to the current president, Mr. Mencken wrote it in July 1920, as Democrat Woodrow Wilson was completing his second term as president.

Ridicule, like good lawmaking, is truly a bipartisan calling.

Todd Benoit is the editorial page editor of the Bangor Daily News.