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.

One of the questions on my mind lately is whether third party candidates would ever have a chance to be successful at the ballot.

The likely answer, I think, is no.

But, I wish for success if third party candidates would run on a platform of finding middle ground on the tough public policy issues facing us in Oregon, as well as at the national level.

Too often, those who run for office campaign on banners appealing to their bases, leaving the middle ground to others who might want to solve problems, but cannot put together the kind of support that translates to winning elections.

The Democrat and Republican candidates only want, figuratively, to stand on street corners and yell about their views. Or, they want to patter the normal lines of the right or the left as if those thoughts are their own. Oregon’s junior senator, Jeff Mearkley, did this recently on consideration of the tax reform bill and my view is that he did himself no favors in the absence of personal clarity and candor. If he wanted to oppose tax reform, then do so in his own words.

Merkley and others of his ilk think they are representing Americans. They aren’t – at least not all Americans, including me. So, third party, rise and be well.

The Wall Street Journal put it this way yesterday:

“Could 2018 be the year independent candidates find success? Successful third-party candidates are few and far between in the U.S., in part because they tend to lack the national donor networks and on-the-ground infrastructure utilized by the nation’s two main political parties.

“But what if more money and outside energy were tossed behind an effort to get political independents un-beholden to a party? By throwing its weight behind more centrist politicians, an organization called Unite America is attempting to do this, partly by tapping the resources of its deep-pocketed donors.

“The group, formerly known as The Centrist Project, has endorsed five independent candidates running for Senate and governor. The candidates are Governor Bill Walker of Alaska, the nation’s only governor who is a political independent; Terry Hayes, candidate for governor of Maine; Greg Orman, who is running for governor of Kansas; Neal Simon, a U.S. Senate candidate in Maryland; and Craig O’Dear, who hopes to unseat Democrat Claire McCaskill as a senator from Missouri.

“The Denver-based group has a wide array of backers, including private-equity fund executives and CEOs in addition to smaller donors. United America, which voluntarily discloses its biggest financial backers on its website, has more than 30 donors who each have given more than $5,000. It says it does not take money directly from corporations, unions, or political action committees. Unite America’s structure includes a 501(c)(4) non-profit that recruits and trains potential candidates, in addition to a committee that supports candidates and a 501(c)(3) that ‘educates the public about independent leadership.’”

On Monday, the Journal reported that it caught up with Walker, the Alaska governor who until 2014 was a Republican. He was in D.C. for President Donald Trump’s summit with governors on gun violence at the White House. Walker became an independent in his bid for governor to join a ticket that had the backing of the Alaska Democratic Party. His lieutenant governor ran as a Democrat.

He said he enjoys being free from the pressure of worrying about whether his stances on contentious issues like gun violence neatly align with the party leadership. “I’m certainly not saying everyone just [toes] the party line, but I don’t have to worry about that,” he said. He also said that his conversations with constituents are more natural because “they’re not worrying about whether I’m an R or a D.”

Enough for the detail, though it’s good to know that third party candidates – ones separate from stultifying party affiliations – are making an effort to win elections.

As a country, we are still recovering from former president Barack Obama who drove the country decidedly liberal with an emphasis on over-the-top government regulation, even though Obama came into office saying that he wanted to surmount party politics. We also are forced to withstand President Donald Trump whose constant tweets ridicule the Office of the President and who, despite some personal popularity, defies political labels. Not Republican. Not Democrat. Not third party.

So, we need candidates who will try to solve public policy problems we face without two-party affiliation and without rancor or egotism.

I also hope third-party candidates would not immediately turn to the government for every solution to every problem. But, if they answer the question about government involvement in the affirmative, then I hope they will design solutions with the interests of centrist Americans at heart.