It is unfortunate that a documentary about the Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership at the University of Virginia wasn't ready to air before today's election.

Titled "Across the Aisle: Returning Trust, Civility and Respect to Politics," the documentary might have inspired some candidates and their supporters who have done much during this campaign to erode trust, civility and respect in politics.

Since its founding in 1993, the institute has been working at the mission implied by the documentary's title.

Obviously, the institute is in no danger of putting itself out of business with overwhelming success.

The political atmosphere is as poisonous as ever, as the Democratic fight for the presidential nomination demonstrates.

But the Sorensen Institute is trying, one leadership class at a time, to change that.

It is, as Gov. Gerald Baliles said at an event unveiling the 90-minute documentary, a unique mission.

"Where do Americans learn to be civil these days? Not on cable news, not during national elections that turn on scandal and misinformation."

Even local politics, Baliles said, "is so cutthroat, you wonder if society is off course."

The institute is a nonpartisan organization. It attempts to find and train potential political leaders in order to improve the quality of government.

By bringing together those with differing ideologies into the same classes, the institute has helped future leaders see issues from multiple perspectives.

In 1997, Sorensen received a grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts to set up programs specifically designed to train candidates to run more ethical campaigns and resist the advice of professional handlers who put winning above everything else.

Americans deserve substantive campaigns. They deserve candidates who debate ideas rather than tear down their opponents with misleading attacks and slimey tactics.

Sorensen has been doing what it can. Perhaps this PBS documentary, which will air in Charlottesville and Richmond later in the month and, we hope, across the nation later, will broaden the institute's reach.