The surprise election of Pennsylvania House Speaker Dennis M. O'Brien (R., Phila.) is one backroom deal that Harrisburg got right.
With Democrats holding a fragile one-seat majority in the House, neither party can claim a mandate. A majority coalition of legislators recognized that the new speaker's party affiliation isn't as important as the fresh direction in which he intends to take the House. And Republican O'Brien, a passionate lawmaker respected by both sides, has pledged to help change the way Harrisburg does business.
O'Brien looks to be one of the best hopes to get both parties working together on issues ranging from tax reform to gun control to openness in government. Having a Republican speaker work with a slim Democratic majority might just produce results.
The factions in the balloting for speaker made it clear that traditional party-line politics were not going to work in this House. O'Brien's success will depend on how firmly he deals with familiar rivals.
Former Speaker John M. Perzel (R., Phila.) also promised legislative reforms as he sought to retain his post. But Perzel, for all the good he has done Philadelphia and the state, was bound inextricably to the 2005 pay-raise scandal. If legislators want to reclaim some of the respect they squandered, Perzel could not be a convincing face of reform.
Ditto Rep. Bill DeWeese (D., Greene), who as minority leader had demoted fellow Democrats for daring to vote against the pay raise. DeWeese badly wanted to become speaker, but he learned that punishing people for acting on their principles is not the path to the pinnacle of leadership.
With DeWeese and Perzel unable to gain a majority, O'Brien emerged in a deal brokered by Reps. Dwight Evans (D., Phila.) and Josh Shapiro (D., Montgomery). Skeptics have a right to ask what O'Brien got in these talks in a hotel room in West Conshohocken. The most obvious answers are more power, a big jump in salary, and increased clout at budget time for his longtime priority - programs for disabled children.
O'Brien also has developed a reputation over 30 years in Harrisburg for getting things done, and now he has the ultimate platform in the General Assembly to make changes. Not only that, but many in the legislature's old guard were voted out of office last year.
Skeptics also have a right to ask why DeWeese, the top House Democrat, was willing to nominate a Philadelphia Republican to the speaker's job.
DeWeese did little Tuesday to dispel the perception that he is an ambitious schemer behind the throne. He practically elbowed O'Brien from news conference microphones, laying out his plans, while O'Brien was left to utter "I'm a Republican" with mantra-like repetition.
If this relationship is to work, O'Brien can't shy away from telling DeWeese where to get off.
One big frustration with O'Brien's prior work in the House was his refusal, as chairman of the Judiciary Committee, to allow votes on bills that would limit handgun purchases to one a month. He said it was fruitless to raise the issue with a pro-gun-rights Republican majority. But today's shift in the political landscape makes it reasonable for O'Brien to reconsider that stance.