Almost everyone who has paid attention to politics in Washington and St. Paul will have noticed that neither the Legislature or Congress is able to get much done. Both are too locked in partisan bickering to make significant progress on any of the major issues that confront the state and nation. So it was disturbing that one of the men who hopes to represent us in Congress has already shown signs that attacking political opponents might outweigh any work on issues.

1st District Republican Mike Parry, who is seeking primary election support to oppose Rep. Tim Walz (D-Minn.) in the November general election, is getting well deserved heat for a speech this week in which he described Gov. Mark Dayton as a pill-popper. Such attacks, while perhaps amusing to Dayton’s political opponents, do absolutely nothing to educate voters about Parry’s views on the issues. Indeed, the only conclusion voters can draw is that Parry would rather launch divisive attacks than talk about the issues, behavior that will certainly not dig Washington out of its entrenched party vs. party stance. Indeed, every such attack just deepens the divide.

America and Minnesota both have pressing needs for good government, for wise leadership and for sound legislation. Inflammatory language and a confrontational style will not advance that agenda for either party. While there are certainly other factors to consider, we hope voters in the primary and general elections will ask themselves whether personal and partisan attacks lend themselves to good leadership.