In State Sen. Hank Sanders’ weekly column this week, the soon-to-be eight-term elected official declared the political landscape in Alabama as “dismal” and that is a shame.

While Sanders has served as a member of the Alabama Legislature during a time when the Democrats have had a firm grasp of power, we have no doubt he now sees the upcoming Republican-led Legislature as a “dismal” situation.

Sanders, as a strict Democrat, is no longer in the majority and, as a result, will see his spectrum of authority and influence in Montgomery greatly diminished.

But while Sanders calls the situation “dismal,” we are encouraged by the attitude of our other elected representative in the Alabama Legislature, state Rep. Darrio Melton.

For a person who in all likelihood doesn’t know any better, Melton has instead taken a sensible, well thought out approach to working in the minority.

He sees himself, not as a Democrat, but as a representative of those who elected him to office.

He sees himself as a part of the Black Belt delegation, whose job now is to unite and build influence rather than having influence cast upon them because they are members of a particular party.

We need Sanders, who says he is “not without hope,” to act on those words and show he can lead from the minority; to show that he can change his tone from one of militancy to one of cooperation.

The swing of power in Montgomery from Democrat to Republican might have appeared to weaken the Black Belt’s position in Montgomery since most of our elected leaders are Democrats. But, why should it?

If we join, speak with well thought out arguments, and make detailed cases for the problems facing our area; we should expect nothing less than successful results.

For far too long, we were given favor because of our political pull.

Today, we must earn our favor for the work and compromise we are willing to put forth.