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.

If you watch politics these days, it is easily possible to come away with the proposition in this headline. The future of democracy in this country, as we know it ,may be at stake.

There are those who will say this is because many Republicans (not all I say, to avoid an unfair generalization), led by the narcissist in the Oval Office, have turned politics into a game which can be cruel to others, including, but not necessarily, immigrants.

What I say is that many Republicans are reacting to the liberal, we-know-best tone of the past. That doesn’t excuse the “gen-even mentality;” it just helps to explain it because, for me, both the left and right extremes are at fault.

All of this came to mind as I read in the Washington Post recounting the experience of a candidate for Congress from Minnesota, Elissa Slotkin.

The story says she assumed her campaign would be built around pocketbook issues such as the rising cost of health care, stagnant wages and unaffordable college tuition.

But what this veteran of three tours in Afghanistan found on the campaign was alarmingly different.

“Voters say they are tired of the anger and polarization emanating from Washington,” she told the Post. “They say they crave compromise.

“Yet these same voters view the rival party with disdain and frequently punish politicians for reaching across partisan lines.

“They want the anger to stop but can’t stop being angry.”

Quite a paradox!

It is what has prompted me to favor a return to political activity as we once knew it. Differ on policy, to be sure. But do so with respect for views of the other side without vicious name-calling.

President Trump has led this country to new lows in politics, but, as I wrote above, the previous administration and those associated with it prodded this country to believe that government had the answer to every problem. If someone raised a problem, then there was automatically a government solution.

Health care is one example. Is what has come to be called “ObamaCare” all bad? No. But all of us are still contending with the over-the-top federal approach to health care, including the incredible proposition from then House Speaker, California’s Nancy Pelosi, that the bill should be passed first, then read later.

Both sides have squirreled away opportunities to find the smart middle ground on health care, which, if adopted, would take advantage of two strengths – (a) government in its role to care for low-income citizens who have no where else to turn (such as single mothers with children), and (b) smart private health care providers who can capitalize on innovation and technology to offer better health care.

I wish Democrats in charge several years ago would have opted for this approach. And I wish Republicans in charge now would opt for it.

But, too often, one side wants to get even with other side for perceived – or even – actual slights. So, we have gridlock.

And, as candidate Slotkin has discovered on the campaign trail, we have anger.

To repeat from I quoted above, “Voters say they are tired of the anger and polarization emanating from Washington. They say they crave compromise. Yet these same voters view the rival party with disdain and frequently punish politicians for reaching across partisan lines.

“They want the anger to stop but can’t stop being angry.”

There is a message in this for all of us. Stop being angry. Advocate for your point-of-view, but have respect for other sides. Support finding middle ground. Don’t penalize those who represent us for being open to compromise, which is not a dirty word.

If we, as citizens, don’t practice these virtues, we cannot expect those who represent us to do so.

And, in truth, the fate of democracy as we know it is at stake.