Maybe, just maybe, a Clinton vs Trump race would allow Republicans (the more moderate ones anyway) and Democrats to rally behind the moderate, rational, and able Secretary Clinton.

This could happen (ok, maybe with a fair dose of magical thinking), and, if it did happen, it could have wide-ranging positive repercussions on politics, the economy, and our national and international security.

Indeed, politics is not, and has never been, about winning unilaterally. Secretary Clinton is a person willing to work with Republicans to move the country forward. It is quite exciting to think of all the things that we could accomplish with just a little bit of cooperation between our two major parties.

Note that this does not necessarily mean that only far-left ultra-liberal policies would get through, in fact, cooperation would have the opposite effect!

Indeed, Republican leaders feel that they’ve had no say in Obama’s policies, but that is mostly because those very same people vowed never to agree with Obama, and have kept that promise.

Here’s an example of how things could work if only there were a little more cooperation: Last week, the Obama administration signaled that, if the Republican congress were willing to consider, in earnest, a nominee to replace Justice Scalia, Obama would be willing to nominate someone that is closer to the right on the issues that matter most to Republicans.

This is how a country moves forward! This is how politics is done right!

You give a little, you get a little.

And Secretary Clinton has made it very clear that she is most interested in moving forward and getting things done. She could not be sending a message more clear to Republicans that she is willing to revive the great tradition of horse-trading that built our democracy in the first place.

But Republicans must participate, and maybe the specter of a Trump presidency is enough to get them to the proverbial table, because that is one frightening alternative…