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 best pieces I ever got as a lobbyist in the State of Oregon came from one of our firm’s mentors, the late Chuck Frost, once a vice president for then Oregon’s largest private company, Tektronix.

Frost provided three pieces of great advice as he we started our company, CFM Strategic Communications – advice, which was goof for all 25 years of my run with CFM. Here is summary:

+ Build and bank good will. Establishing a pattern of service will serve you well with clients and in the community. Tektronix, under Chuck’s leadership, set out to do that in the Oregon Legislature and in Congress, earning credit that allowed the company to be seen as Oregon’s high-tech business leader.

This approach used to work in the lobby game, but, for all sorts of reasons, it is not as effective these days with a far more confrontational style of politics.

Let me emphasize this, too. If we tried to build or bank goodwill, we expected nothing specific in return. No quid pro quo. But we did hope for consideration for the viewpoints we expressed to officials on behalf of our clients.

+ Integrity is your main credential — don’t lose it! Always do the right thing. Honesty in business relationships will stand you in good stead regardless of the business environment.

This sounds far removed from reality today. Integrity seems to be often a mostly lost credential. Many political figures get by without much in the sense of honesty, ethics or integrity. But, as lobbyists, we felt our integrity was crucial to potential success. We fought hard to maintain it.

+   Advance principles that are not just in your self-interest, but in the public interest, as well. For our firm over the years, this was a critical test in any lobbying or public relations task.

Over the years, we couldn’t always this perspective, self-interest being what it is, but we tried hard to do so. Lobbying was easier when you could argue from two bases – (a) the benefit to your clients who were solid members of a community; and (b) the benefit to the general public.

For the moment, at least, these three credentials seem to be missing from today’s public policy process. Some of this is due to President Donald Trump who may be on the way to impeachment if Democrats control Congress next year.

His misdeeds and untruths are becoming legendary, marked, as always, by hate and disdain for anyone who has the temerity to disagree with him because he knows all and is always right.

The principles outlined above served us well as lobbyists in my company for more than 25 years. As you review them, you may come to think of them as potential axioms for life, as well as for lobbying.

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 one of my most recent blog posts, I listed a number of phrases used by lobbyists, including me when I was a lobbyist at the State Capitol in Oregon.

I forgot one – a very important one. It is this:

WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND

It is important because it describes a truism about the role of a lobbyist. What happens one day can repeat itself the next day.

In other words, don’t hold grudges or long memories. You may lose one day, but might win the next as “what goes around comes around.”

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.

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 is not an exaggeration to say that the political system in this country doesn’t work anymore.

Most of the dysfunction is due to President Donald Trump who cannot act like a real president who places heart over disdain and who works to find common ground of the sort that ought to be required of a leader of the free world. Trump does neither.

Even to call Trump a world leader is a phrase that gets caught in my throat.

Consider these recent thoughts from commentators on the sad state of our democracy.

From Jennifer Rubin in the Washington Post: “As for the Trump administration, neither temporal nor geographic distance improves one’s perception of the president’s multitudinous and outrageous misdeeds. To the contrary, on the ground in Western Europe, ordinary individuals, media and political leaders reacted with amazement and horror at the series of events that have occurred over a fortnight.”

From William A. Galston in the Wall Street Journal: “In the wake of President Trump’s press conference with Vladimir Putin, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich condemned the equivalence Trump drew between U.S. intelligence services and the Putin regime, calling the remarks ‘the most serious mistake of his presidency.’ Gingrich is wrong. Though Trump withdrew his slap at the intelligence community, his embrace of Russia was no mistake. It represents the distilled essence of his presidency.

“Hours before the meeting in Helsinki, Trump tweeted the following message: ‘Our relationship with Russia has NEVER been worse thanks to many years of U.S. foolishness and stupidity and now, the Rigged Witch Hunt.’ It took the Russian Foreign Ministry just a few hours to overcome its amazement and re-tweet Trump’s message along with their terse addition: ‘We agree.’”

From Roger Cohen in the New York Times: “President Trump, in concert with several European leaders, including those of Hungary, Poland, Austria and Italy, is intent on dehumanizing immigrants and refugees. The aim is to equate them with terrorists and criminals ready to ‘infest’ – Trump’s word – American and European civilization, defined as a threatened white Judeo-Christian preserve.

“It’s a consistent policy buttressed by insinuation and lies about the supposed threat, and designed to manipulate fear and nationalism as election-winning emotions in a time of rapid technological change, large migrant flows and uncertainty. Vermin infest, not humans.”

From Dan Balz, chief correspondent for the New York Times: “The November election could be about many things. Immigration. Tax cuts and the economy. The Supreme Court and the future of abortion rights. Trade and tariffs. The menu changes with the cascading of events. Ultimately, the midterms will be about intensity. On that factor, Democrats ought not to underestimate President Trump.

“Trump dominates like no president in recent memory. He dominates the daily conversation in the country. He manufactures diversions and distractions, starts brush fires or all-out conflagrations. He creates stirs constantly with tools his predecessors never had or imagined using. He says whatever he wants to say, regardless of the truth. He puts the news media on the defensive and calls journalists the ‘enemy of the people.’ He makes himself impossible to ignore. His supporters love it.”

I could go on, but let me stop there and suggest the conclusion in the headline to this blog: The political system in this country is in trouble.

The main reason is Trump. He defies explanation. Truth is not his friend. Everything revolves around him as the center of his own universe regardless of truth or facts.

Inaction and stalemate in Congress adds to the dislocation as members try to one-up each other with hate, disdain and acrimony.

I have tried to maintain a sense of equilibrium in the face of all things Trump and Congress, but it is very difficult to do so. Still, I hope good Americans, wherever they are, will help democracy rise above hate and acrimony. One of the actions to take is to elect better leaders.

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.

I have not opened this department, which I direct, for several weeks. One reason is that I have spent a lot of time on the golf course during a spate of hot weather in Oregon, which means, for golf, that the ball travels farther.

Because the department has been closed for several weeks, there is a lot to report – written comments from columnists I trust who write well. I add my own comments in each case.

So, here goes – the department is open again.

From Dan Henninger in the Wall Street Journal: “A message to Republicans lost in the Trump fun house: Run on something solid. Run on something you understand. Join yourself at the hip with the greatest accomplishment of Donald Trump’s presidency. Run on America’s booming economy. (Footnote: For put-off GOP voters who need more reason to show up, the next 30 years of the Gorsuch-Kavanaugh court was why they signed on for this ride in 2016.)”

Comment: As usual, Henninger is very perceptive, though it strikes me that it should be obvious that real Republicans have a great message on which to run in the coming election cycle – the economy is humming along.

From Kathleen Parker in the Washington Post:  “Uncle Rudy used to be New York City Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani long before becoming President Trump’s lawyer. What a difference 17 years makes. The commanding leader who helped America navigate the horror of 9/11 is again making the TV rounds, but this time he seems to be speaking English as a second language. Quite a few cable anchors were at risk of reversing their Botox injections as they attempted to follow what he was saying.”

Comment: Giuliani is nuts, almost as nuts as Trump. He can’t get his words straight as he is interviewed, so often calls back reporters to change or clarify his remarks. He says “collusion” is not a crime, but, of course, no matter the words, what Trump allegedly has done is at least a potential crime.

From George Will in the Washington Post:  “A more apt connection of current events to actual socialism was made by Senator Ron Johnson, the Wisconsin Republican, when President Trump decided to validate the conservative axiom that government often is the disease for which it pretends to be the cure. When the president decided to give farmers a $12 million bandage for the wound he inflicted on them with his splendid little (so far) trade war, and when other injured interests joined the clamor for comparable compensations, Johnson said, ‘This is becoming more and more like a Soviet type of economy here: Commissars deciding who’s going to be granted waivers, commissars in the administration figuring out how they’re going to sprinkle around benefits.’”

Comment: More stupid government. First, under Trump, it conducts trade war that adversely affects farmers. Then, he proposes to give them government money to offset the harm he has created. Round and round it goes.

From David Von Drehle in the Washington Post:  “Trump is the first president to make full use of digital media to go around established intermediaries such as the Washington press corps and the political parties. The smartphone in his hand allows him to broadcast his own messages unfiltered by interpreters, on his own schedule and in his own words.  Presidents have dreamed of this power for ages, but Trump was the one who realized that the same digital principles Amazon used to disrupt retail and Airbnb leveraged to upend the hotel business could be applied to political communication, given enough name recognition to get the ball rolling.”

Comment: For Trump, it’s either this tendency to go around the media to “his people,” or criticize the media as being only interested in what he calls “fake news…”which usually just means he disagrees with what’s being reported.

From former NBC journalist Ann Curry on a panel for Season 5 of “Finding Your Roots,” the PBS series in which prominent people learn facts about their ancestry:   “Curry learned news about her biological grandfather, which prompted the host to say: “We are a nation of immigrants.”

Comment: Well said! Trump can gain political advantage all day long for all I care as he rails against immigrants. But, we are a nation of immigrants. That fact should be kept squarely in mind.

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 has to be one of the worst times in history to hold the title of Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.

That’s because, the current holder of the office, Representative Paul Ryan, has two impossible jobs.

One is herding cats – the 435 members of the House. Tough, if not impossible.

The second is contending with one of the worst presidents in U.S. history – Donald Trump, who just happens to be in the same party as Ryan, if, in fact, it would be possible to contend that Trump belongs truthfully to any party.

Many observers believe Ryan has not been tough enough in opposing Trump and I could find myself agreeing with them, at least part of the time.

Ryan came into the Speaker’s job with high policy-making chops, especially with regard to the federal budget. Then, once in the top job, he had to give up any hope of crafting policy. Perhaps because he knew that going in, he didn’t really want the job.

Last week, Ryan gave his last annual lecture to congressional interns.

His main message was this:  “Don’t be snarky or attack others on Twitter. Just think about what you’re doing to poison the well of society and degrade the tone of our debate.”

With that remark, Ryan finished the session and headed for a White House meeting with a world leader who spent Wednesday morning belittling “weak lawmakers” who do not support his trade war policy, accusing Georgia’s Democratic gubernatorial nominee of being “crime loving,” and blasting his onetime lawyer as “sad!” for leaking a recording of the two discussing payments to cover up an alleged affair.

This is the contradiction Ryan faces in his final months in office. For the second time in a week, he held a forum on the favorite topic of his 20-year career, restoring the foundations of “civic life” and reclaiming his “raise your gaze” rhetoric of his first days as House speaker in 2015.

Then, he had to contend again with Trump down the street.

To be sure, Ryan has struggled with squaring his own ethos of “common humanity” with having to deal with Trump who believes that a brutish nature is a way to achieve victory.

To the interns, Ryan issued a stark warning about the nature of today’s political discourse, which he said is “filled with disillusionment and lacking substance … reason … facts … merits.”   Those engaged in many political debates, he added, “rarely skim below the surface and feed off a social media network with a narrow vision of society.”

“Snark sells, but it doesn’t stick,” he concluded.

Kudos to Ryan as he leaves office.