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.

It might have been the first “presidential” address for this mercurial president, Donald Trump.

Whether you agree with him or not – and many Americans do not – Trump did appear presidential in his address to a joint session of Congress.

He did not fulminate or go beyond his usual pale of criticizing everyone but himself. He left the media, the “opposition party,” alone. He stuck to his script, reading from a teleprompter for the majority of his remarks. He did not cover new policy ground, but reiterated his positions on taxes, getting rid of ObamaCare, exalting America’s place in the world by an “America-first” strategy, and renewing his pledges to do something about immigration.

Behind him on the platform sat Vice President Mike Pence and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, often visible in live television coverage. They appeared to lead the clapping for many of Trump’s comments, some with a standing ovation. As the camera panned around the room, most of the Democrats stoically kept their seats.

One of the loudest standing ovations of the evening went to the widow of the slain U.S. serviceman, Riley Owens, who died recently on a U.S. military mission.

Some commentators criticized Trump as attempting to capitalize on the incredible sorrows of a recent widow, but, as one observer, I thought Trump struck the exactly the right chord, both in terms of honoring the selfless actions of a man who gave his life for his country, as well as underlining his, Trump’s, support for the military.

In many ways, his “use” of symbols in the audience conjured up images of what Barack Obama and Bill Clinton before him had done in their State of the Union addresses.

As I said, I thought Trump struck the exactly the right image as appeared genuine and heartfelt, good characteristics for Trump to emphasize.

Where does all of this go from here?

Perhaps nowhere in the sense that Trump and the Rs remain far apart from the Democrats who can be counted on to continue to oppose and deride every move from the other side. [In the spirit of full disclosure, as I watched the address on TV, I did see Senator Chuck Schumer, the Senate Democrat leader, clap once. He probably won’t remember that he did.]

There are many tests ahead, but as Peggy Noonan wrote in the Wall Street Journal several days ago, one of the first will be the confirmation fight over U.S. Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch. As Noonan suggests, Democrats in the Senate would be well-served to confirm Gorsuch, given his solid credentials, and save their bullets for an easier target, perhaps even the next Court nominee if there is one soon – and that would be a nomination by Trump calculated to turn the Court conservative.

Further, who knows how the Trump “presidential” look will last. The betting here is not long, but one day represents a good start.