For the last few years, our government in Washington, D.C. has been plagued by gridlock, with Republicans and Democrats in Congress at odds, unwilling to work with each other in any form.

On far too many issues, votes in the Senate come down roughly along the party lines of the 52 Republicans and 46 Democrats and two independents who caucus with them.

In many ways, this is inevitable, considering the process of creating the bills voted on.

In the recent health care debate, Republicans, under Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, largely shut out the opposition from drafting the Senate health care bill, resulting in a “skinny repeal” bill that failed to garner the vote of even one member of the other side.

Which is why it was refreshing on Sunday, hearing two of our nation’s leaders make the call for bipartisanship when appearing on the Sunday News shows.

Ohio’s Republican Gov. John Kasich has recently been making appearances with Colorado’s Democratic governor, John Hickenlooper. The two have been working together so much, it even spurred rumors, which both denied, of a joint “unity” presidential ticket in 2020.

And on the same day, U.S. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, appeared on “Meet the Press” to discuss a range of issues. While highly critical of President Donald Trump. Brown made it a point to call for the parties to work together, particularly on immigration reform, where he cited his agreements with Kasich and desire to draft legislation with Republican members of the chamber, such as Florida’s Marco Rubio.

The perpetual campaign cycle has created a situation where Congress is at record low approval ratings and major issues facing the country are ignored.

We hope that leaders in our nation’s capitol follow the example of Brown, Kasich and Hickenlooper and become more open to reaching across the aisle and giving us a functioning government.