There isn’t much doubt Tina Kotek, Oregon’s new governor, will face a hard sell when she visits Eastern Oregon as part of her ambitious plan to visit every county in the state, but rural lawmakers should view her upcoming tour as an opportunity.

Clearly, Kotek’s politics clash significantly with the prevailing political views of most Eastern Oregonians. No one has to search very hard or for very long to spot wide gulfs in political perception between Kotek, her party and the worldview of most Eastern Oregonians.

The perception and political chasm exist and probably won’t go away any time soon.

Yet once that fact — however unpleasant it may be for some — is recognized and embraced, there is room for lots of progress.

OK, so Kotek’s political views are in sharp contrast to most Eastern Oregonians. Fine. Everyone gets it. So how are we going to make sure, in a sense, the trains run on time?

Because, in the end, our democracy can’t function very well if we all don’t work together. It sounds fairly simple, really, but in today’s political climate even the simplest things appear to be extremely difficult.

Once our political differences are out on the table and we can all kneel before the altar of our particular dogma, then it is time to figure out how we actually tackle real problems that the entire state faces.

Eastern Oregon confronts many challenges and those challenges can either be ignored or addressed. Addressing those problems means creating a meaningful dialogue with those whose political beliefs we don’t subscribe to. Simply shrugging and giving up — blaming “Salem” for all of our problems — isn’t a method. Our region and its leaders must decide whether we want to solve our challenges or just complain about them.

Overcoming our problems means seeking partnerships with state leaders and with the governor. We need to reach a point where we can all agree to disagree and then work together.

For a long time now, the nation — and our state to some extent — has adopted the doctrine of division, the philosophy of discord and disharmony. We’ve wallowed in a new type of dissonance where screaming and threats of violence hold sway.

That isn’t the American way nor the Oregon way.

Our elected leaders will gain a tremendous opportunity to build a bridge with our governor over the next year. Let’s admit we don’t see eye to eye politically and then get busy solving our problems.