The Republicans had the Democratic governor teed up.

They had the votes to jam her with a no-fault car insurance package she warned she would veto if it got to her desk. The popular wisdom was, “This is a political no-brainer: Send her the legislation. Let her veto it, and then Republicans would eagerly and joyfully tell the voters, ‘She had a chance to give you rate relief, but she did not.'”

To the shock of some in this town, they left the ball sitting on the tee and opted to take a swing at something else.

House GOP Speaker Lee Chatfield and Senate GOP Leader Mike Shirkey shoved the politics aside and decided to do public policy, instead.

The speaker: “Because of the ongoing conversations we’re having (with the governor), we decided not to move on a bill today. It’s an act of good faith and we’ll try to reach a consensus to drive down car insurance rates.”

The Senate leader: “The governor finally with her team has presented some things to us that actually move in a direction that we can have some optimism that we can get to a bill signing in the not-too-distant future.”

The trio should take a bow. And you should applaud them.

To be sure, they are not taking a curtain-call and there is no standing ovation, but, by focusing on crafting good policy and attempting to work a compromise, they are doing what good government looks like and what citizens, such as you, are demanding, i.e., both parties should work together for the good of the state and stop playing gotcha politics.

All of this came to head last Thursday.

In the morning, the governor at an event away from the Capitol tip-toed into opening the door to talk about choice in the no-fault system. She didn’t endorse it, but she noted it was worth discussing.

“Choice” means you no longer had to buy the lifetime mandatory unlimited catastrophic insurance, which everyone now has whether they want it or not. Under the GOP rubric, you could purchase $250,000 or so in coverage, which would save you money. But, the critics, such as trial lawyers, contend that, if the unthinkable happens and your injuries go beyond that, “you’re on your own.”

After he door-opener, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the two Republicans had a chat. No deals were made. No promises advanced. But “we agreed to continue to talk,” Mr. Shirkey told Capitol correspondents that afternoon.

Both he and Mr. Chatfield were very optimistic.

“The job is going to get done,” advised the Senate leader.

“By the end of the day and the end of the conversation, we’re going to find a consensus on how we’ll have real rate relief,” echoed the speaker.

While they deserve praise for talking, the special interest groups were infinitely more interested in what the final product would look like. Good government is one thing, but, in a debate that has cost and profit implications for all the players, the outcome trumps that.

Pressed on how long it would take for this to jell, Mr. Shirkey turned wine steward.

“It’s like fine wine, my friend … and when” — notice it is “when,” not “if” — “there is no question in my mind that real reform is going to get done as a very fine wine.”