Mercer County's quartet of state-level politicians shared a dais, a microphone and the spotlight Friday afternoon at a luncheon hosted by the League of Women Voters of Mercer County.

The county's delegation -- Sen. Robert D. "Bob" Robbins, Salem Township, R-50th District; Rep. Michael C. Gruitza, Hermitage, D-7th District; Rep. Rod E. Wilt, Sugar Grove Township, R-17th District; and Rep. Richard R. Stevenson, Grove City, R-8th District -- attended the League-sponsored question-and-answer session in Shenango Valley Community Library, Sharon.

The lawmakers answered questions, which were prepared ahead of time by the League, on energy, water and open records under a format that allowed each 3 minutes to respond to each topic.

After answering those questions, which were presented by moderator Ann Becker, an audience of about 50 got its turn. One of the topics that appeared to strike a chord with the foursome and others was political cooperation in Harrisburg under new Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell.

Political gridlock, whether on a local, statewide or national level, has often been a hot-button issue. Robbins, Gruitza, Wilt and Stevenson agreed that cooperation is important, although each offered a slightly different perspective on the subject.

"That's the big issue. That's the big question and hopefully we'll rise to the occasion," Gruitza said. "We need to do that for the people of Pennsylvania. ... We can't afford, I think, to get into a bickering contest in Harrisburg."

Gruitza said he knows Rendell campaigned on a pretty broad agenda of change with plenty of support from the public and believes the governor is "going to play a very key role in being able to work with the Republican leadership in the Senate and the House, because they do control the General Assembly. And the governor's not going to be able to do anything without support from the Grand Old Party."

That support, Stevenson said, should be available, at times, for Rendell.

"I don't think any of us are going to vote against a bill that the governor supports just because he happens to be in the other party," Stevenson said. "But I think we are going to look very carefully at how the legislation comes out, how it's structured and what it does for our constituents here in western Pennsylvania."

Wilt cautioned that he and his fellow politicians can't ignore "the politics of policy making."

From a political perspective, he said, the governor must try to find a way to whittle the margin of seats Republicans enjoy in the state House and Senate while at the same time moving Pennsylvania forward on important policy issues.

"I'm not going to vote against the governor because he's a Democrat and I happen to be a Republican," Wilt said. "If I don't give him a vote on something, it's because I don't see how it impacts in a positive way the state overall or the 17th District and Mercer County in very specific terms. Sometimes people look at that and say, 'Well that's just partisan politics.' Well it isn't. Sometimes it's just a difference of opinion and I'm going to reserve the right to have a difference of opinion. But I'm also going to keep an open mind and approach this next session with a tremendous amount of optimism."

That's where the public's perception, or those forces which shape that perception, becomes vital according to Robbins.

"A problem that really discourages me sometimes is our media only wants to cover the negatives," he explained. "They only want to cover where the fights are. ... So what the public sees so often aren't the things that have been done with votes from both sides, which gets really little coverage, but the negatives. So more and more people think all we're doing down there is fighting. ... Unfortunately, you see very little coverage or emphasis on the good things that we got done together."