Division has always been a tricky subject for me. It was my least favorite lesson in elementary school — probably because I never liked the idea of dividing something up. I wasn’t a sharing-is-caring child.

But compared to some politicians today, it seems I understand the concepts of division and sharing better than I thought — and certainly better than they do.

Politics trends in the way of divided government. Periods of unitary power, when one party is in control of the White House and the Capitol, hardly ever last. The longest in recent history was from 2003 to 2006, when Republicans had it all. So it’s not really a surprise that Congress became divided in the midterm elections, with the Senate having a Democratic majority and Republicans controlling the House of Representatives. In the end, it may end up being beneficial for President Barack Obama, if he can find a way to turn the split in Congress into cooperation.

In 1994, former President Bill Clinton experienced a very similar midterm swing, from unitary control to a Republican takeover of both houses of Congress. For some things, such as raising the minimum wage and reforming Medicare, that government was successful.  It kept inflation in check and increased jobs. But the partisanship that arose out of the 1994 midterms and Newt Gingrich’s desire to flex his party’s legal muscle also ended up shutting the government down multiple times, once even gridlocking the system for almost a month.

For a while, division and party politics inhibited the government’s ability to work together to move America forward. It also vilified the GOP and ensured Clinton’s re-election in 1996, something that many pundits in 1994 didn’t predict. By the time Clinton left office, though, a still-divided government had found a way to compromise on the important things, like creating a budget surplus and turning an economic recession into an economic boom. Smart leaders found a way to get over the petty name-calling and look to our collective future instead of their future in office.

Our economy now is much worse than it was in 1995, and a gridlock today could easily ruin our nation. Can we honestly afford to let the government shut down in 2011?

We need to find a way to work together so that we can achieve greatness (and a surplus) instead of self-inflicted destruction. It’s not naive to think that this is possible — we’ve seen it happen before, and there’s no good reason why it can’t happen again. We need to see it happen again if we are to ever pull ourselves out of the mess we’re in.

The first step is toning down the partisan rhetoric. I’m all for competitive campaigns and butting heads during elections. Now that the elections are over, though, it’s time to stop yelling and start governing.

Campaign speak and post-election speak are two different things, so now, comments like the ones Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) made two weeks ago are unacceptable. Saying the GOP’s goal for the next two years is “for President Obama to be a one-term president,” will not lead to anything but catastrophe. Hearing that someone wants you (or your party’s leader) to fail does not make you more willing to work together. It makes you want them to fail. And alas, the cycle of nasty partisanship never ends.

That cycle has been broken before. The key is cooperation and compromise. Afterall , the only ship that never sinks is bipartisanship.

Emilie Openchowski is a senior government and politics and journalism major. She can be reached at openchowski at umdbk dot com.