Referendum CC and recent Republican recall failures speak to the box canyon in which Colorado politics are now trapped. Virulent, partisan antipathy certainly mimics what passes for debate at the national level, but poorly serves the Centennial state’s residents, its children or their future. Our president travels from one rally to the next telling his supporters, “Democrats (in Congress) are crazy!” By extension, we are urged to presume their voters are crazy as well. What are the real chances sanity is the sole property of either the Republican or Democratic party?

The notion that partisan loyalty demands knee-jerk opposition to any idea advanced by the opposition is relatively new to Colorado. Elections have always been hard fought, even nasty on occasion, but there was a time when campaigning ended before the Legislature arrived at the Capitol in January. There was an implicit understanding that both Democrats and Republicans shared responsibility for governing the state in the interests of its residents. That didn’t mean parties wouldn’t try to jerk you out of your seat at the next election, but it did include an honest attempt to reach compromise on our challenges once the Legislature was in session.

It is nearly inconceivable to imagine today’s Republicans creating the Regional Transportation District (RTD) to serve the metropolitan area. At its 50th anniversary celebration earlier this year, former Senator Hugh Fowler, who co-sponsored the enabling legislation, repeated his quip that, “There were Republicans on my side of the aisle who viewed public transit as a socialist plot.” Hugh had grown up in Chicago and returned from the Second World War to surprise his mother by riding the “El” home from the train station. He needed Democratic allies to launch RTD, just as then state Rep. Dick Lamm needed Republicans to lift restrictions on women’s access to abortion. Since then, as partisanship has poisoned debate, transportation infrastructure has fallen behind demand; roadways have decayed absent routine repair, and drivers are trapped in endless congestion.

Roads and transit may not appear partisan, but how to pay for them is. Public education shouldn’t be partisan, yet paying teachers a living wage is. Higher education is the gateway to successful professional lives, yet we’ve permitted tuition to exclude all but the wealthy from state colleges and universities. Safeguarding children against lunatic shooters doesn’t seem partisan, but the effort was advanced as good reason to recall legislators from office. It’s worth noting that in the 19 states with red flag laws not once has an aggrieved girlfriend asked the courts to secure firearms from a former boyfriend without cause.

There is no single event that triggered the political polarization crippling Colorado’s ability to deal with challenges its citizens handle daily in their own lives. Term limits, TABOR, the waning influence of political parties, the decline of impartial daily newspapers and rabid social media have all contributed to thinking, “I’m right and you’re an idiot!” Ask yourself whether either major political party is advancing a coherent agenda for transitioning Colorado into a more crowded future? Are they offering a comprehensible school funding plan? A water plan? A workable health care plan? A transportation plan? A sustainable energy and climate plan? A quality of life plan for rural communities? Are these, if they exist, coordinated?

Democrats and Republicans can’t agree on whether Referendum CC is a tax hike or not. If you believe the retention of tax dollars that would otherwise be rebated are unearned dollars, then you will argue it is a tax hike. If you see them as the proceeds of existing rates, which have been approved by voters, then it’s not really a tax hike. TABOR is not just about voter approval for new or additional taxes, which has some merit. It also sets limits on revenues and expenditures, while handcuffing legislative budgeting in numerous other ways. None of this is easy to explain.

If you visited the Western Slope this past summer, you likely saw many “Recall Governor Polis” yard signs. Why did these families want to recall the Governor? At bottom it is because he is a Democrat, and as a Democrat he is likely advancing policies they oppose, even if they don’t know what those are. Currently Republican Party leadership has been backpedaling away from its failed recalls, but it was a wildly popular refrain at their statewide meeting earlier this year. It was newly elected Party Chair and Congressman Ken Buck who promised to teach Democrats how to spell R-E-C-A-L-L!

Zealots in both parties would benefit from a pitcher of ice water poured over their ambitions. There is no federal bailout waiting – no national infrastructure program ahead. We will have to fund our own solutions. That means working together. A candidate who refuses to compromise won’t get my vote. Nor should they get yours.

Miller Hudson is a public affairs consultant and a former legislator. He can be reached at mnhwriter@msn.com.