No, we're not suggesting they should gloat at the misfortunes of others. Clearly, even a short-lived closure of the Minnesota Highway 43 bridge in Winona is a major headache and financial hardship for a lot of people and businesses. The ferry system that's now in place is an inconvenient, expensive short-term fix, and if the bridge can't re-open before winter, a 60-mile detour would add an extra 600 miles of commuting each week for people who must cross the Mississippi River to get to work. No matter what kind of mileage your car gets, that hurts.

But if the 67-year-old bridge can't be repaired, the good news is that Minnesota is far better positioned to pay for its replacement today than it was before the Legislature overrode Gov. Tim Pawlenty's veto of the $6.6 billion transportation bill.

The transportation package includes $600 million earmarked to replace the state's worst bridges, and with that new funding stream in place, Minnesota no longer has to try to nurse every year of life out of every bridge.

That's good, because for the foreseeable future Minnesota will be the most aggressive state in the nation in terms of inspecting its bridges and erring on the side of caution at the first sign of problems. Yes, drivers and businesses will be inconvenienced, but what choice do we have?

When the Interstate 35W bridge collapsed, the era of merely "monitoring" flaws in our state's infrastructure ended. Lives were lost, and it instantly became the job of everyone in the Minnesota Department of Transportation to make sure that this tragedy never is repeated. The Legislature understood this and took appropriate action.

It's been a few months since the transportation bill became law, and there's a lull in local political debate as members of the Legislature plot strategies for their upcoming re-election campaigns. But now that the GOP and DFL have had their conventions, we expect things to heat up, and quickly.

How ugly could this get? Back in February, Gov. Pawlenty predicted a "tax revolt" when voters go to the polls, and he even suggested that anger about the DFL-led gas-tax increase could bring Republicans back into power. "They had their day," he said of DFLers after his veto was overridden, "But now taxpayers will have their day."

Anything's possible in politics, but if the GOP wants to make gains in the House and Senate, our advice would be to abandon any plan to use the gas-tax increase as a political weapon. It was a prudent, long-overdue increase. In the big picture, that extra 51/2 cents we'll be paying in November will feel like a drop in the proverbial bucket.

Furthermore, by the time we go to the polls, we'll probably be able to drive on a new I-35W bridge -- a reminder of the tragedy that occurred there and what our tax dollars really pay for.