For Gov. Linda Lingle, this would mean more attention to working with, rather than around, Democrats in the House and Senate.

And the Democrats should not treat their increased numbers as a mandate to ride roughshod over the governor and her programs.

After all, as the late Tip O'Neill's famous dictum had it, all politics is local. It is likely that many of those Democratic victories were less about the power balance in the Legislature than on issues and personalities unique to those districts.

It's time for both sides to move forward in a spirit of political accommodation.

A good start would be for Lingle to step up and fully release money authorized for programs passed last session by majority Democrats, including programs for education and to combat drug abuse.

Policy squabbles about how these two areas should be approached should not delay or impede full funding for these programs.

Releasing the money would be a good sign that the governor's office is ready to cooperate.

On the other side, Democrats should not use their numerical strength to icebox Lingle's programs simply because they come from a Republican administration.

Good ideas deserve a fair hearing — no matter where they originate.

Lingle says she is looking forward to new initiatives in affordable housing, economic development, early childhood education and for the University of Hawai'i.

We haven't seen the details yet, but these are all important areas that deserve a bipartisan, forward-looking approach.

Coming into this election, there was too much attention on the numbers game of who had power and how it would be used.

That conversation is now over.