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.

As Americans, do we need to give Donald Trump a chance?

As in the headline on this blog, I say yes, though a bit hesitantly because I never know which Trump will emerge – the one on the campaign trail who, with almost unimaginable rhetoric, criticized everyone, or the one in his president-elect mode who appears to be reasonable and friendly.

The New York Times covered this point the other day in a column by Nicholas Kristoff. It sparked comments in letters to the editor, such as these two:

• From Greenwich, Connecticut: “I didn’t want either candidate, but will give Donald Trump a chance because Hillary Clinton wanted us to, because I respect the process and because I have faith in a government framework intended to disseminate power.”

• From Windermere, Florida: “It will not be helpful to the country if those on the left or anyone with serious concerns becomes just as extreme as those on the far right. I agree fully with Mr. Kristof on this point: Let’s grit our teeth, give him a chance and hold him strictly to account.”

If you voted for Hillary Clinton or, at least did not vote for Trump, gritting your teeth may be a predictable reaction. But, to state the obvious, there are winners and losers in politics and, if democracy means anything, then it should mean that winners win with grace and the losers lose with the same trait.

For my part, here on the West Coast, far removed from the two East Coast letter writers, I say, too, give Trump a chance. Look at what he does, not just at what he says, via Twitter and other new-age forms of communication. Consider how he transfers from a campaign mode to a governing mode because, in the end, he will have to govern.

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FOOTNOTE:  Even as I wrote this, recounts were being requested in several Rust Belt states, recounts demanded first by Green Party candidate Jill Stein, but later joined by the Hillary Clinton campaign, which, obviously, already has conceded the election.  I suspect these recounts will not amount to much.