Georgia is Republican.

Georgia is Democrat.

Georgia is Libertarian.

Georgia is Independent.

Georgia is all of these things and more.

State lawmakers should govern accordingly.

If ever there was a time that called for bipartisanship, now is that time.

The people of Georgia have made it clear that they don’t see everything in hues of red and blue.

The people of Georgia vote the way they vote for a myriad of reasons that certainly include party affiliation but that is not limited to it.

A state with a popular Republican governor and two Democrat U.S. senators is, quite obviously, a state that is politically diverse, not solidly red or solidly blue.

Furthermore, split ticket voting speaks volumes about the Georgia electorate. Perhaps more than ever voters are looking beyond mere party affiliation and thinking more deeply about policy, issues that matter to them and, yes, the quality of candidates.

All of this is good for democracy and good for Georgia.

Tribalism has damaged America.

At times the damage has seemed irreparable.

The chasms between the right and left, the vitriol and demonization of anyone who did not share our party affiliation, has taken us down a dark path from which there seemed to be no return.

Compromise, civility and basic decency toward one another have been viewed as weakness rather than strength of character.

This election cycle has not suddenly made us all better people and better political parties but it should have, at the very least, made us all think.

We can be better.

This election has given us a small glimpse of what better can look like.

Better does not have to be more Republican or more Democrat.

Better can mean more understanding, more tolerance, more acceptance, more working together, more civility, more mutual respect and — perhaps most importantly — more listening.

The more we all listen to one another the stronger we all become.

The more progressives think of conservative friends as people they disagree with instead of people they disdain, and the more conservatives think of progressives as people who see things differently rather than people who are evil, the better we are as a community, a state, a nation and a society.

Jim Zachary is the editor of The Valdosta Daily Times, CNHI’s director of newsroom training and development and president emeritus of the Georgia First Amendment Foundation.