Congressman Jimmy Panetta is reaching across the aisle.

WHEN ENTERING CONGRESSMAN JIMMY PANETTA'S OFFICE in Salinas on a morning in early May, he stands up behind his desk and offers a firm handshake and a wide smile.

It may be a typical greeting, especially for a politician, but it's also symbolic of the type of politician Panetta aspires to be – one that's trying to help restore bipartisanship to a country that seems more bitterly divided by the day.

By Trump-era standards – with its endless barrage of alarming headlines – it's been a slow news week, with the biggest story in recent days being comedian Michelle Wolf's April 28 performance at the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington, D.C.

But Panetta, as he settles back into his chair, says that on Capitol Hill, the country is not as divided as it may appear to those on the outside.

"There are a lot of efforts for bipartisanship going on," he says. "I can't stress that enough."

Panetta, who won 80 percent of the primary vote for a second term in the House of Representatives five weeks after that May morning, is also clear that his freshman term in Washington D.C. has been a steep learning curve, especially given the unprecedented, unorthodox style of President Donald Trump, whose often-inflammatory tweets demand swift responses from members of Congress in districts, like Panetta's, where a large majority of the constituents voted for Hillary Clinton.

"I learned one thing about [predecessor] Sam Farr – he had a good sense of timing. He knew when to get out," Panetta says, laughing. "But I can tell you: It's been frustrating, but at the same time, it's been a fantastic experience. You find those jobs where things kind of click, and I feel this kind of clicked for me in the past year."

Panetta is relentlessly optimistic – perhaps even Pollyannaish – and tries to put a positive spin on most everything. Yet this comes at a time when, for many people who voted for Clinton in the 2016 presidential election (she won the popular vote by some 3 million votes), the country's democracy seems on the verge of collapsing, and the liberal democratic norms that have made this country great appear to be eroding.

Tweet by tweet, Trumpism transforms the GOP, and members of the so-called law-and-order party continue railing against the U.S. Justice Department in an effort to discredit the findings of special counsel Robert Mueller III, a Vietnam War veteran, former FBI director and lifelong Republican. Meanwhile, Trump is handing out pardons to some questionable characters, such as former vice presidential aide Scooter Libby.

But while shadowing Panetta in his district May 2, nearly every minute of his day is booked with meetings and events with his constituents, and learning which of their concerns he can take back to Washington.

If the nation's social fabric, and its post-World War II alliances, are in fact unraveling, you'd never know by watching him work.

JUST AFTER 9AM ON MAY 2, Panetta is riding in the backseat of a Prius that Carina Chavez, his deputy district director, is driving south down Highway 101 toward southeast Salinas for a tour of the San Jerardo Migrant Head Start facility, where children of seasonal agricultural workers go to preschool and receive day care.

On the way, Chavez briefs Panetta on the essentials: Climate change has resulted in a longer growing season, and United Way Monterey County, which is sponsoring the event, gave money for the program – which receives federal funding – to be extended another two weeks.

"What I like about this job is, every day is different," Panetta says. "One minute I'm talking to Sec Def [Secretary of Defense James] Mattis, and the next minute, I'm back to the office, talking to a constituent."

At San Jerardo, a bucolic enclave just east of the highway, Angie Ramirez, an area manager for local Head Start programs, leads Panetta, and supporters of the program, on a tour of the day care facility.

The site serves 56 children, she says, with two classrooms for toddlers, and two for preschoolers. Ramirez says most of the kids are from migrant families, and move seasonally with their parents, who are farm laborers, but she adds that some of the families have chosen to stay at San Jerardo in the past year because of fear of being detained by immigration officials.

Ramirez then leads away outside to a playground, which was recently revamped thanks to donations from United Way Monterey County and 1st Capital Bank in Salinas.

Most of the kids stop what they're doing, and with the morning sun lighting their faces, approach the guests with smiles and a greeting: "Hola!"

Panetta, all the while, is asking questions and probing Ramirez for details, and she tells the group the children primarily speak Spanish, but that they do learn some English in the classrooms, and teachers give each child an individual lesson plan based on their needs.

The tour over, the group heads inside for a reception. Katy Castagna, president and CEO of United Way Monterey County, is first among many to deliver a speech to the 30-plus guests, and states how important it is for kids to get early education, and that in Monterey County, only 25 percent of the kids are ready for kindergarten – meaning, they've got the basic skills to thrive in our education system – by the time they come of age.

United Way, she says, wants to double that number by 2020. "With your support," she tells the group, "that's an attainable goal."

After a few more speeches and a testimonial from Andres Morales, whose daughter is enrolled in the San Jerardo Head Start program, Panetta is called to the lectern. After thanking everyone, and for all the work they are doing at San Jerardo, Panetta says, "Looking around this room, this is indicative, this is representative, of what this community is about. People from all areas, all sectors, all walks of life, are here to support this program, which supports this area.

"When we were driving down here this morning, going through the Salinas Valley, which is something I love to do, you look up and you see how beautiful it is, but it's when you come to programs like this, and meeting people like this, and seeing children like we saw in the Migrant Head Start, that's when you really learn to appreciate this area, what it's about…

"It's these types of stories," Panetta says, turning to Morales, "how beneficial these programs are to you, to your daughter, to your wife, that helps give me evidence that I can go back to Washington, D.C. and make sure that we continue the funding."

So far, Panetta says, those stories are helping: In the 2017 federal education budget, funding for Head Start programs increased from $9.2 billion to $9.8 billion.

"It's consistently gone up, and that's because I believe we're getting the message across," Panetta says.

When Panetta finishes, and the speeches wrap up, everyone takes their turn for a picture with him. He does have a great smile.

ON THE DRIVE BACK TO HIS OFFICE with Chavez behind the wheel, just after a meeting at the Salinas office of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services, Panetta explains his living situation in D.C. He's got three housemates – one of whom is Republican, John Moolenaar, from Michigan – and they recently had to move out of a house because it flooded four times.

He recalls the living situation of his father, Leon, when he was a congressman, and when Panetta spent the summer in D.C., interning at the State Department after graduating from UC Davis with a degree in international studies.

"Chuck Schumer was on the fold-out couch," Panetta recalls of the now-Senate minority leader. "Upstairs, Marty Russo had a bedroom. George Miller had a bedroom, and then my dad and I shared a full-sized bed on the living room floor just a stone's throw away from Chuck."

That summer made Panetta realize he didn't want to work in the State Department, so he enrolled in law school at Santa Clara University, which led him into his former career as a prosecutor.

Leaving the car, in the hallway outside his office in Salinas, Panetta says, "My grandfather came here and gave us the American dream, and the reality of this American dream is that we should always give back to the community that gave us so much."

With that, he steps into his office, and is greeted by his aides.

PANETTA'S AFTERNOON IS BOOKED SOLID with meetings. The first is with members of the Santa Cruz chapter of the Citizens' Climate Lobby, and while they thank him for his work on the issue – Panetta serves on the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus – they also lament the current climate in D.C.

Panetta agrees.

"[Former EPA] Secretary [Scott] Pruitt," Panetta says, "I think everything he did that brings up the ethical violations, will not get him – for lack of a better word – fired from the administration."

As for the damage Pruitt is doing to the environment, Panetta adds, "Unfortunately, because of that as well, that's why he won't get fired from the administration."

(After one too many ethics scandals, Trump tweeted July 5 that he had accepted Pruitt's resignation.)

They all agree it's a hopeless situation – at least in the current political environment – but they nonetheless smile widely when posing for pictures with Panetta at the end of the 20-minute meeting.

PANETTA HAS BEEN TRAVELING TO WASHINGTON, D.C. since he was a kid, and the lessons he learned then, just by observing his father stuck with him, and inform the politician Panetta has become.

"He got along with everybody, Democrats and Republicans, he treated everybody the same," Panetta says. And while partisanship has been on the rise since the early '90s – around the same time his father Leon retired from Congress, it so happens – he says there is hope for that to change in the coming years, because the younger generation in Congress is willing to work together.

"It can be difficult, obviously, with this president. It can be difficult with leadership on both sides of the aisle," he says, but adds, "I truly believe that in order to get things done you have to do it with both sides at the table."

To that end, Panetta strives to develop working relationships – some of which have become friendships – with Republicans. Doing that, he says, requires understanding where the other side is coming from. He recalls Drew Ferguson, a Republican from Georgia who is also serving his freshman term, telling him, "Jimmy, in my district, Indivisible doesn't show up at town halls. The Tea Party does."

That said, Panetta has not been a champion of Indivisible, a national group that emerged after Trump was elected with the intent to resist the president's agenda. Unlike his predecessor Sam Farr, Panetta is not a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, although he says he's not ruling it out in the future.

"I don't want to be labeled. When you join that type of caucus, you're automatically labeled," Panetta says. "I didn't join because it felt too early at this point."

Alan Haffa, a Monterey councilmember and chair of the Monterey County Democratic Central Committee, thinks Panetta has done a good job in his freshman term, and essentially, has done his best to make lemonade from lemons.

"He's tried to represent everyone in his district, Democrats, Republicans, everyone," Haffa says. "That's not easy to do, and it's especially hard to do when far-right Republicans in Congress are so entrenched."

Haffa applauds Panetta for trying, in a bipartisan way, to hammer out a DACA fix, even though the effort failed. "He tried, and I think that is something we should all be thankful for."

Haffa also notes that Panetta was able to get on two committees of importance to the district, the Agriculture Committee and Armed Services Committee.

Haffa emphasizes that while it's important for some Democrats in Congress to fight vocally against the Trump Administration's policies, and defend Mueller's Russia investigation, he thinks it's good to have some Democrats – like Panetta – reaching across the aisle.

"I think it's hard for us to fully appreciate what that situation is like [in D.C.], it's so divided like never before," Haffa says, adding that both sides can no longer agree about established facts in the media. "It's hard to judge somebody like Jimmy, because it's such an unusual situation."

For Democrats, all hopes are now pinned to the midterm elections, and the possibility of a "blue wave" to win back the majority in at least one house in Congress. To do that, Panetta says Democrats need to work on their messaging, and he thinks the issues the party should focus on before the next election are: immigration reform, gun control, infrastructure we can fund, protecting the environment, and a tax reform package that doesn't hurt the lower and middle class.

As for any hope some of his constituents may have of Trump being impeached in the event of a blue wave, Panetta says it's best to wait for Mueller to finish his investigation and see what the evidence is, or the effort could backfire politically.

"There's got to be evidence before we take on anything as major, as major, as the impeachment of the President of the United States," he says. Otherwise, he says, "It's a wasted bullet. A wasted, expensive, silver bullet."

And as for why he doesn't get on a soapbox and scream about Trump and his policies, like some of his colleagues do, Panetta says that's not his style.

"I'm not a show horse, I'm a workhorse," he says. "I get that short-term instant satisfaction of standing up and yelling. But if we want to direct this country in the right way, we need a strategic message."

For Panetta, that message is simple: "When they go low, we go local."

And despite the unorthodox nature of the Trump presidency, and its impact on further dividing an already riven country, Panetta remains optimistic, and paraphrases something he recalls Senator John McCain saying last July, on the subject of bipartisanship. It struck Panetta, in part, because he used to play fullback in high school football.

"He said it's OK, for basically three yards and a cloud of dust, as long as we're moving the ball forward," Panetta says. "That's it, that's what it's about. I love that."

SIX WEEKS LATER, ON JUNE 21 – the day after President Trump ordered an end to his own policy of separating migrant families, and two days after Panetta, with five other House Democrats, introduced the Keep Families Together Act – Panetta's voice has a different ring to it. A frustrated one.

"It's a whirlwind out here," Panetta says by phone from D.C. "When I got here today, I didn't know what I was voting on."

That's because Republican leadership in the House put forward two bills – an immigration bill and a farm bill – without holding any hearings, testimony, nothing. It's the same thing, Panetta notes, that happened earlier this year with the tax reform bill.

"It's just shoved forward by leadership, and they expect us to vote on it," he says. "Leadership of both parties is to blame for this."

Especially frustrating to him is that the two major bills introduced earlier in the day were about topics critically important to his district – immigration and agriculture – and he had no choice but to vote no each time because, he says, "They were not properly put together, and did not contain the right laws within them to help the Central Coast."

Nonetheless, Panetta still believes he can reach across the aisle and help restore proper order to lawmaking.

"My newer colleagues, they understand this is the wrong way to do things," he says. "That's why I do have hope, and I'm optimistic."

SIX DAYS LATER, SUPREME COURT JUSTICE ANTHONY KENNEDY – the court's swing vote – announced he would retire, likely locking in a conservative majority on the Supreme Court for a generation.

In the days after that, before a trip to Europe, Trump upped his rhetoric attacking our closest allies, insisting they pay more for defense.

Instead of despairing, Panetta is focused on what he can do.

On June 29, Panetta sponsored a bill, the National Ocean Policy Act of 2018, to codify ocean protections and create certainty for coastal planners, so that ocean protections could no longer be upended at the whims of a president like Trump.

He's also working on a bipartisan letter with a California colleague, U.S. Rep. Steve Knight, R-Palmdale, to complain to the Trump Administration about the tariffs it imposed on uncoated groundwood paper from Canada, which is used to make newspapers, making the embattled newspaper industry less profitable.

He concedes that, even in the event of a blue wave, scoring victories during Trump's tenure will be tough. On a July 12 call from D.C., he reveals only a tiny crack in his optimism.

"There's a real potential for this administration to be a real threat to our future," Panetta says.

That said, he also notes that throughout the nation's history there have been troubled times – Reconstruction, the Great Depression, Red Scares, backlash to the civil rights movement – but the nation so far has rebounded each time.

"This president wants us to be distracted, he wants us to feel like pulling our hair out," Panetta says. "My pushback on President Trump is creating policy that protects the Central Coast. It's difficult right now, there's a lot of tribalism in our country. I believe you restore it by going local."