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.

Listing popular lobbyist phrases is possible because I was one — a lobbyist — for many years, including 25 years for the private sector.

That gave me a bunch of experiences, including understanding various phrases which were used by lobbyists and conveyed meaning, at least in the lobby world.

This may be a repeat of what I have written before but, oh well, here goes again.

ALL HAT AND NO CATTLE

I love this phrase. It prances off the tongue and into the ear. What it means is that many politicians don’t have deep policy perspectives, but, just the same, make vast pronouncements.

A CAMEL’S NOSE UNDER THE TENT

This is a phrase meant to indicate that, if you are lobbyist opposing a bill, the first step toward passage often is used by advocates to stair-step an idea toward final action. Thus, the camel’s nose is under the tent, which is a bad thing.

THE FIRST STEP DOWN A SLIPPERY SLOPE

This phrase, borrowed from skiing, has the same connotation as the one above. If action is taking in favor of a piece of legislation, it may not be possible to stop the movement toward passage.

DODGING, BOBBING AND WEAVING

During my career, I used this phrase to indicate the various actions opponents of one of “my ideas” (actually my clients’ ideas) could take to express that opposition. And, if you think about the phrase for a few minutes, each of the three actions – dodging, bobbing and weaving – connotes a different movement.

THIS PROPOSED POLICY VIOLATES LEGISLATIVE SIDEBOARDS

When I was walking the halls of the Capitol with a client who was not familiar with the legislative process, he told me, “It’s good to have someone (me) who knows the legislative sideboards.” It was meant to suggest that, in any legislative arena, there are typical processes to follow to promote passage or failure of any bill.

Knowing the “sideboards” is key to what any good lobbyist does.

There are other phrases, but these come quickly to mind. The funny ones – especially the “all hat and no cattle” example – often made life easier for me in the rough and tumble of the State Capitol in Salem.

I even may try to use at least some of these phrases in my every day life as a retired lobbyist.