Meanwhile, in the states, a new spirit of bipartisanship

At state level, GOP, Dems learn to get along

By Dennis Cauchon, USA TODAY

A wave of political cooperation is springing up in state government as Republicans and Democrats work together in places where they had fought over nearly everything for years.

The biggest shift has come in Florida and Ohio• Alaska. Gov. Sarah Palin, a Republican, has earned 89% and 93% approval ratings in two recent polls. She has won nearly universal support because of her strong stand for honest government in the face of a corruption probe into other members of her party. Her support of a proposed natural gas pipeline to the continental USA has helped, too. "Her strength is her independence," says Alaska pollster David Dittman of Dittman Research in Anchorage. "She distanced herself from the old boy Republican regime and has been completely non-partisan."

Alaska Democratic Party Chairman Jake Westbrook credits Palin with working across party lines on issues where there is agreement, but he predicts her rating will tumble when she tackles tougher issues.

• Tennessee. Gov. Phil Bredesen, a Democrat in his second term, has a 67% approval rating. "He owes his high approval ratings to an ability to make decisions in a bipartisan way," says pollster Blake.

Bredesen, a former business executive and Nashville mayor, has made unpopular decisions that temporarily hurt his popularity, but he always rebounds.

"There's never a perception that he's working for just one group," Blake says. "What's amazing is you can break his numbers down by race, gender, party, political leaning and it's all the same. He has uniform support."

• Kansas.