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 I played the role of state lobbyist for nearly 40 years here in Oregon, I often remembered counsel from one of the persons for whom I worked in state government.

The easiest thing to do, this manager said, “is to be cynical about the state legislature.”

He advocated a more reasonable perspective because, after all, as often is said, “we may not like the form of government we have, but it is better than any other form.”

Legislators here often provide some rationale for cynicism, but as both a lobbyist and an observer of politics in Oregon, I tried to observe this critical distinction: Be skeptical, not cynical.

Skepticism was a trait I learned as a newspaper reporter when I practiced a kind of “trust, but verify” stance over those in local government whom I covered.

I remembered my manager’s advice over the last couple weeks as I played golf in La Quinta, California with a friend of mine who runs a business. While we focused on golf, we also had a few brief conversations about politics.

He said two things that resonated with me. One was that he was irritated that legislators didn’t work harder to find middle ground. I concurred with that perception and have written about it on numerous occasions. Compromise is better than gridlock.

But, he also said, perhaps a bit cynically, that he felt money in politics indicated that all legislators were on the take.

To that, I say no.

Of course, some are and that kind of perverse behavior generates headlines and creates the opportunity to assume everyone is unethical.

But, in my experience, most legislators who come to Salem are trying “to do the right thing” in a tough environment. Imagine if you had 90 friends, put them in one building and told them to solve tough problems. It might not look pretty and they might not succeed.

Most of the time, even when legislators accepted money from those who wanted to help fund their campaigns, they tried to observe a bright line between money and actions in the legislature. It always helped that contributions were not allowed in Oregon during legislative sessions.

As a lobbyist, I, as well as colleagues in my firm, followed a few key precepts on behalf of our clients when it came to political contributions:

• When we made contributions, we did not expect specific actions in return.
• Well, perhaps we expected one action, which was to consider the views we expressed on behalf of clients, then assume legislators would make their own decisions as they considered all of the alternative points of view, including ours.
• We did not keep voting records. Rather, we kept “relationship records.” We wanted to support candidates who would value their relationship with us as lobbyists just as we valued their role as legislators.
• Okay, you may say – get real. You must have known how legislators voted on issues important to you. The answer, of course, is yes. But we did not keep records on all votes, preferring to keep records on relationships.

So, to my friend on the golf course, I say be skeptical. Do not believe what you hear first or hear from one source. Consider all sources. But also don’t be cynical — do not believe that all legislators are in the political game for their own personal interests.

Analyze issues and those legislators who represent you, be skeptical, and allow the skepticism to yield general perspectives, not cynical ones.