Could 2012 be a miracle year for politics?

For the cockeyed optimists among us who keep their bright eyes set on public life, 2012 could be the year.

Suspend your disbelief. You cannot know what merry surprises will come to pass.

It could be the year when some elected official, jammed up in a public scandal, blurts out: "I am resigning. My deepest regret is that I will be forced to spend more time with my family."

Bet you never heard that before.

Or perhaps, next year, a big-time political consultant, injected with truth serum, will announce: "I don't know why I was just signed up for a fat campaign fee. My candidates lose more often than they win."

Think how refreshing that would sound.

Better yet, 2012 could be the year when some elected executive states bluntly: "We haven't a clue how to do more with less, so we will do less. Unless, of course, we can pile on debt or taxes without anyone noticing."

Text Santa now and tell him that's what you want.

Or, consider the gift it would be if a political nominee, for once, said to the news media: "I will go negative first. Personal attacks work."

Let's also hope for an underdog candidate who shuns the predictable and says: "The only polls that count come way before Election Day. And boy, am I behind. Maybe I'll have to change the bromides I'm spouting."

Next year, for the first time, legislative oversight committees may ditch their typically lame, narrow partisan spectacles.

Can you imagine the shock if these panels shed light on their subject areas in an impartial way by digging out new and relevant information about government agencies?

That might inspire a Kraft TV special called "Miracle on East Capitol Street."

Next year, public comptrollers, treasurers and fiscal monitors throughout America might boldly suggest exactly where they think other offices of government need to cut.

Then there's the judiciary. For starters, this could be the year that all the courts tell us to stay seated and keep muttering as the judge strides in.

If these seem too wide-ranging, start with more-modest stocking stuffers.

Next year, the big-spending "Committee to Save New York" could change its name to the more transparent "Committee to Enshrine the Cuomo Administration."

It could be the year that Nassau Democrats acknowledge, once and for all, "We're just never going to beat Kemp Hannon."

It could be the year that state Republican Party leaders make an earnest effort to expand and diversify their urban enrollment -- and state Democratic leaders say "All things to all people? Heh. Not us."

This could be the year that some police commissioner puts in writing that cops really do have hard ticket quotas; that the nation's baseball commissioner admits infielders don't really need to touch second on a double play; and that the MTA tweaks the Lottery slogan for a new ad campaign with the message: "Hey, you never know -- You may get there on time."

Anything can seem possible in the sharp air of a new year.