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 use an image from my favorite sport, golf. Out of college, my first job was as 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 a Congressional press secretary in Washington, D.C., an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and a private sector lobbyist. This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.

This question – what does a potential political leader running for office really want to do once he or she gets to a job – contains both risks and rewards for candidates.

The risks are that you will be expected to deliver on your promises. The rewards are the same.  But, if you want a top political job, you ought to have a set of key reasons for wanting to win.

The Oregonian newspaper published a story on Sunday, October 23, asking about what really motivates Democrat candidate Kate Brown as she bids for her own term in the state’s top political job, albeit only a two-year run.

Oregonian reporter Hillary Borrud wrote it this way:

“But the back-and-forth (on transportation funding) plays into a long-running debate about Brown’s leadership style, eighteen months after Gov. John Kitzhaber resigned in scandal and just weeks before Oregonians decide whether she should finish his term or give way to Republican Bud Pierce.

“Has Brown’s penchant for pragmatism — honed during 25 years in state office — sometimes kept her from challenging other political players and interest groups? Is her famed niceness enough? And will having a mandate, if she wins election Nov. 8, free her to lay out her vision for the state? 

“Brown has enjoyed goodwill from lawmakers and others who sympathized with her struggle to soothe the state post-Kitzhaber. She also responded adeptly as Oregon dealt with last year’s mass shooting at Umpqua Community College and then, months later, militants’ armed standoff in Harney County.

“But what’s yet to emerge, political observers say, is a striking vision for what Brown wants to accomplish. Though she managed to push through a compromise on the minimum wage this year, she’s yet to squarely tackle the state’s pension crisis or chart a clear path toward new transportation funding.”

I had the privilege of lobbying then State Senator Kate Brown over many years at the Capitol and I always found her to be genuine and approachable. She always was ready to listen to points I made on behalf of clients and also – good news here in a sometimes perverse kind of way – was quick to say when she couldn’t see supporting my clients’ objectives.

Getting a clear answer from a legislator, even a “no” answer, is better than contending with uncertainty.

In other words, her top qualities could be described as friendliness and candor, both of which are needed in the state’s top political job, which it appears she will be able to retain in the November 8 election.

The Oregonian story prompted me to think of “the vision thing” and here, for what it’s worth, are traits I I want to see in those who say they want to lead our state and our country.

• Honesty and candor, two qualities lacking in the dispiriting run for president by both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.
• Ability to lead others to find middle ground, which is where public policy problems are solved, not on either the right or left extremes. Another way to put this is the ability to see contentious issues from the perspective of others, a key to finding middle ground.,
• Commitment to working to assure effective and efficient spending of public dollars, not just an appeal for more.
• Recognizing that not every problem in society can be solved by another government program — in other words, recognizing a solid balance between government and the private sector.

Do these credentials gain appeal from voters? Perhaps not. They don’t necessarily translate into sound bites or cute slogans.

But they and others like them would contribute to better government, which ought to be our goal as voters.