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 had an interesting and friendly exchange last week with a partner of mine from the firm from which I retired, CFM Strategic Communications.

In an internal communications vehicle, I had lauded a column that appeared in the Wall Street Journal by former U.S. Secretary of State James Baker. In his words: “John McCain recognized that resistance to compromise stands in the way of America’s advancement. We all would do well to heed his advice.”

My partner, a solid analyst of political trends – though we sometimes disagree – wrote this:

“I know you like the nostalgia of calling for common ground and compromise, but I fear the divisions are too deep to bridge at this point. There is an existential battle afoot to define (or redefine) what democracy means in America. A president derides the news media and denies what he said captured on tape. A racist comment about a Florida candidate is dismissed as ‘just the way white folks talk’ about African-Americans. Hispanics, including native-born citizens, are denied passports. Rules to protect the environment, consumers, endangered species and the health care for low-income people are rolled back or denied. Violence is predicted – and incited – based on election results. This is no longer a Democrat versus Republican divide. It is a battle for the values of the country.”

My partner went on: “Bernie Sanders advocates universal health care and free college education. Elizabeth Warren wants to curb corporate power and market concentration. Those aren’t the reasons the country is ripping apart.”

I differ from my partner in at least two respects.

First, if it is only nostalgia that advocates a return to the idea of compromise in politics, then I embrace nostalgia. If we don’t find a way for government to work better for ALL Americans, I fear we’ll see the end of democracy as we know it.

Second, I know folks on the right are not always open to “government in the middle,” but to laud Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren for their proposals for free health care and free education is give them far too much credit.

It is proposals like this from the left – even the far left – that will tear this country apart just as fulminations from President Trump and his ilk will tear the country apart from the right.

Plus, the two left-wing Democrats advocate “free government” that will aggravate the federal deficit. As a country, we simply cannot afford “more free stuff.”

So, to my partner, I say, yes, government from the “smart middle” still makes sense. It is not just nostalgia. It is a fond hope, perhaps even a dream.

Continue hoping and dreaming, I say.