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.

In a post earlier this week, I commended President Trump and his Administration for preparing for the Harvey debacle and showing up to support Texans.

I suggested that it was a good stroke for Trump to show up personally, but to avoid the hardest-hit areas so his own presence would not make the work of first responders more difficult.

Since my post, I have read a number of pieces which faulted Trump, while he was in Texas, for talking only about responders and the government apparatus of responding rather than expressing sympathy for individual citizens hit hard by the tragedy.

At one point, in a campaign-style moment, he even marveled at the size of the crowed that showed up to see him.

There is perhaps a point in all of this because Trump is never good at expressing sympathy for others, perhaps an illustration of the Trump tendency to focus on himself as the most important person in any room or public space.

But, still, I think Trump deserves credit for his early response to this natural disaster, the first one in his Administration. Showing up mattered a lot, even if he didn’t always say just the right things.