Political debate has devolved into little more than a preschool tussle over who gets the last cookie. The politicians bicker, bemoan and belittle each other. Their special interest supporters root them on. Sadly, the folks who pay the bills - the working middle class - have to sit by and watch as the American Dream itself fades away.

George Washington saw this coming. In his 1796 farewell address, he warned us about the dangers of party and partisanship.

"(T)he spirit of party ... unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature, having its root in the strongest passions of the human mind," he said. "It exists under different shapes in all governments ... but in those of the popular form, it is seen in its greatest rankness, and is truly their worst enemy."

He went on to warn that we must keep an eye out for the disorder and tyranny that come from out-of-control partisan politics. And he was right.

Extreme partisanship is a threat to our democracy. So are those who would take advantage of partisanship for their own narrow political gain. While they may look good on television, these folks keep our nation from moving ahead.

We've got to put an end to this bickering.

The first step is to decide what we want from our government and from our politicians. If it's the political equivalent of professional wrestling we want, then that's what we're going to get. But we should be prepared to go hungry because the wrangling is all sizzle and no steak.

But if we want to survive and thrive as a state and nation, then we need to be open to what we can accomplish ... together. No one party has a lock on good common sense. We should debate anyone's ideas - if they're good ones - no matter where they come from, and we should all work toward adopting them.

Here's an example. When it comes to energy policy, manufacturers, evangelicals and environmentalists all have a common goal: Each wants to ensure responsible, green economic growth. But each approaches the issue with a different motivation. For the manufacturers, it's the desire to lock in an environmentally sensitive, but economically sound, policy. For evangelicals, it's the concept of stewardship over our natural resources. For environmentalists, it's about preserving our planet's ecosystems. The opportunity lies in what unites these groups, not what divides them. That lesson is an important one, and it holds across issues.

Our political leaders have a choice about how they spend their time. Some choose to join the preschool tussle, criss-crossing the country to fight narrow partisan battles for political, even personal gain. Others choose to focus on the things that really matter to American families, like getting our economy back on track, keeping taxes low and controlling the deficit.

We're Americans. And that means that we have every right to choose how we conduct ourselves, politically and otherwise. But it also means that there's more that unites us than divides us. It's time to come together and heed George Washington's words. It's time to reject extreme partisanship and to simply do what's right for our country.