Iraq political trends - moving away from sectarianism?

Interesting article on shifting alliances, "In Iraq, Political Ambiguity," in Iraq in Wash Post today. Anthony Shadid reports on moves toward alliance building between 'Sunni' and 'Shii' politicians. He notes that Maliki has been talking to Sadrists and Sunni and cites an example that Iraq VP Hashemi recently visited a hospital in Sadr city.

The provincial elections a few months showed a potential trend of Iraqis not voting along sectarian lines and instead voting for candidates who delivered services and security.
Here is the election roundup from Musings On Iraq.

While recent sectarian violence has been intense and sectarian identities have formed, these identities are not historical; there was no Sunni Shii identity or divide among the general Iraqi population or divide before the invasion. Therefore (in my opinion) these identities as antagonistic can be left behind...eventually with political, economic and civic development.