[PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE: This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf. Out of college, my first job was a reporter for the Daily Astorian (in Astoria, Oregon) and I went on from there to practice writing in all of my professional positions, including as an Oregon state government manager and a private sector lobbyist. This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing pubic policy – to what I write. If you are reading this, thanks for doing so and please don’t hesitate to respond so we can engage in a dialogue, not just a monologue.]

I have thought a lot about this lately as I have seen candidates for president on both Democrat and Republican sides say almost anything without regard to accuracy.

It used to be that candidates would try to be accurate in what they said because, for one thing, they knew that media reporters would be listening and would check the accuracy of what they said. Proven or intentional inaccuracy would lead to campaign problems.

Media review still occurs, but not as much as it once did. And, in any event, if caught in an inaccuracy, many candidates don’t seem to mind because they have gone on to something else and have gotten headlines for their original, inaccurate contentions.

Allow me cite just one example from my past. It was back when I served as press secretary for the last Republican governor in Oregon, the late Victor Atiyeh, who, while holding the governor’s office, was also running for re-election (which, by the way, was successful).

In the governor’s office, we had been given information by the Economic Development Department on the number of private sector jobs that had been created with government help during Atiyeh’s tenure in the governor’s office. It was a positive number that gave credit to the private sector for the job creation, but emphasized government’s help.

I stewed over it for several days because I wanted to make sure that, under scrutiny, the numbers would hold up.

We went as far we could in double-checking, then provided information for the governor and candidate Atiyeh to release, thus gaining credit for good work done during his Administration.

I report this, not to take personal credit for the due diligence – it was a team effort as always, buttressed by a request from the governor himself to make sure what he released would be accurate. I report it to underline what should occur today before any candidate goes on the public record. If they make a mistake, okay, correct it and gain the credibility that comes with the orrection. But, to relay inaccurate information on purpose, then leave it in place intentionally, is inexcusable.

Consider Donald Trump.

His latest inaccuracy is to charge former President George Bush with causing the 9/11 tragedy. Of course, the true message is that seeds for the tragedy were laid before Bush took office and, as president, he took decisive action after the raid to try to assure that such a tragedy would not happen again on U.S. soil.

To verify this, Marc Thiessen, a speechwriter for Bush, wrote a column that appeared in the Oregonian today (www.oregonlive.com) laying out the accurate facts of the case.

Or consider Hillary Clinton.

If you look at the recent Congressional Benghazi hearings as part of the presidential horse race, then Clinton won, seeming to get the measure of Republicans by charging them with a political witch-hunt. But, beyond the hearings, if you look at what Clinton and her staff have said about the Benghazi tragedy over the months (if not years), accuracy has not been a measure of the comments.

In the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, better for her to have to said she didn’t know for sure what prompted the attack than to try to explain it away.

Her comments on her private e-mail issue also have defied logic and accuracy.

I hope that our political process, with all its failings, would return to some semblance of a commitment to accuracy. Perhaps that is unrealistic, but there is nothing wrong with the aspiration.