My role as your host might suggest that I leave it there. Park the politics at the door and tell you about the great places to visit while you are here. While that rule has saved plenty of Thanksgiving dinners, we — our families and our political parties — need to figure out a way to have a respectful conversation about the questions that matter.

In that spirit, I'd like to stake some common ground around the common good. That, after all, is what this and every election should be about.

I speak as a mayor who finds myself suddenly on the front lines of our national debate. Whether it is the consequence of partisan gridlock or the enormousness of the challenges the federal government faces in sorting out social security and health care and our role in a changing world, the most compelling conversations about securing the common good — about rebuilding our economy in a new century — are happening not in Washington, but in cities and towns across this country.

Whether we serve towns where the mills have closed or cities where the auto manufacturers struggle or the dot.coms went bust, mayors know how important it is to attract private investment. From national and international corporations housed in our downtowns to major manufacturers retooling for a new era to start-up businesses poised to drive our new economy to small groceries that are the backbone of our neighborhood commercial districts, businesses employ our residents, pay their share of our taxes, support our community's philanthropy and contribute to our city's vitality. Many of them — and their capital — could locate anywhere in the world. And so we listen carefully when they have something to say.

When I came into office and faced a multimillion dollar budget deficit, I asked some of St. Paul's most respected business leaders to go through our budget with me. Their message, after a detailed review, was not that they didn't want to pay taxes. Their message was that they wanted to understand — and have a role in determining — the return on their investment. They wanted to help shape our community's definition of the common good.

Their priorities — our priorities — are clear.

Public safety is the classic common good, and it is the first responsibility of government. My partners in St. Paul's business community understand, however, that the public's safety depends on more than top-notch police officers and firefighters.

They know that it involves after-school programming and youth employment and specialized responses to domestic violence and substance abuse. They and their foundations continue to support our efforts in these areas, but it is not their core mission. Public safety is a collective responsibility best managed by government, and we have to be willing to pay the price.

An educated work force has rocketed to the top of the public agenda in most communities, and St. Paul is no exception. The Itasca Project, a Twin Cities business-led collaborative, points to an educational achievement gap as the single greatest threat to our region's — and nation's — competitiveness.

There is no issue more challenging as knowledge expands at a dizzying pace, as opportunities for those with limited education virtually disappear from the workplace and as countries around the world rapidly change the economic equation. This challenge requires the best of our collective resolve and the investment of our collective resources.

A third priority is our physical infrastructure — our roads and bridges, schools and homes, water treatment plants and Wi-Fi networks. Business owners understand the perils of maintenance deferred. But the public infrastructure, though it has millions of users, has no constituency.

It depends on the unrelenting stewardship of those elected to secure the long-term strength of our economy. That issue has special poignancy for us in Minnesota, but it is a challenge faced by every community across this country.

Finally, our community places a priority on justice and compassion. Those who bring private investment to the table are critical to St. Paul's future. But so, too, is the man huddled on the heating grate outside a gleaming skyscraper, trying to stay warm on a cold Minnesota night. He is probably well into middle age and a veteran of a war many wish we could forget with scars we only barely understand. Most of us rush by, but not without offering a silent prayer that someone will honor both his service and his dignity — that he will wake up in the warm embrace of the common good.

As local lessons aggregate to a national agenda, the way forward becomes clear, it seems to me. And it ends where this remarkable democracy began — with a bold commitment to the common good. James Madison once wrote, "If men were angels, no government would be necessary." We are not angels. But we are a generous people with a common destiny, a destiny that will be shaped by this election.

Welcome to St. Paul.

Chris Coleman is the mayor of St. Paul.