Colorado’s legislative session ending with wins and losses.

By our estimation, the Colorado General Assembly operated just about exactly how it should in years when a single political party has all the power and the minority party is left tilting at windmills.

Partisan folks will paint this session one of two ways: Democrats rammed their agenda through with no regard to the opposition, the traditional legislative process or democratic norms; or Republicans abused the will of voters by being abject obstructionists attempting to filibuster good legislation.

“For years, Republicans and their special interest allies blocked common-sense progress at the legislature. Voters rejected gridlock in November and now the GOP is trying to use every tool they can to continue their D.C.-style stonewalling,” Colorado House Democrats posted on their Facebook page.

Not to be outdone, the Colorado Senate GOP tweeted out a poem last month: “We do not like your illegal infractions; We do not like your job-crushing actions; We do not like your blinding speed; Won’t you please slow down and read.”

We’ll tell you that both assessments are wrong.

In actuality, Colorado’s legislative session is designed to span a limited amount of time, a natural guardrail on what can be accomplished in a single year. The minority party, Republicans in both the House and the Senate, have tools at their disposal to slow down debate, to filibuster (to a limited extent) and to exact what little compromise they can.

Were Republicans unreasonable this legislative session? We would argue they were no more obstructive than minority caucuses in prior

years. Republicans didn’t try, nor should they have, to stop everything with which they disagreed.

Democrats brought an aggressive agenda, and bills that were introduced early, had strong support from within the caucus and were priorities, have already become law.

Without a doubt, legislation that Democrats wished would have become law will die Friday, the last day of the legislative session, in part because Republicans invoked tools like asking for bills to be read at length and launching rambling, at times nonsensical, debates at the podium on the floor for hours.

And yet, Democrats have a natural check on that feet dragging — they can call the question. It’s the “nuclear” option, and it hasn’t been used in years, preference being to allow the minority to lodge their displeasure with legislation that is destined to become law. But to use it once, during a session where Republicans started their stall campaign early and were persistent, seems reasonable. Democrats, however, should tread carefully Friday and not abuse the power on the last day of the session.

Because they introduced major legislation late in the game, including a last-minute tobacco tax increase that would be sent to voters, Democrats cannot complain when the clock runs out on their legislation. Were it a top priority it would have been introduced months ago and if it must wait until January to be heard again, the loss is not enormous.

Coloradans should temper their outrage at this session — especially the absurd efforts to recall Democrats from office — because on balance, it has worked out fairly well for both sides. Members of The Denver Post’s editorial board are Megan Schrader, editor of the editorial pages; Lee Ann Colacioppo, editor; Justin Mock, CFO; Bill Reynolds, vice president of circulation and production; Bob Kinney, vice president of information technology; and TJ Hutchinson, systems editor.