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.

This question in the headline is one I often ask as we watch the federal government continue to flounder in the Nation’s Capitol. And the floundering is due to immature juveniles on both sides, led by President Donald Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who want to win for their base, the public be damned.

I also continue to wonder whether there is any real political space between the left wing nutcases and right wing fanatics. For examples of both, look no farther than Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on the left and TV commentator Sean Hannity on the right — though I hate to use because, (a) he is not elected, and (b) all he wants is personal fame and controversy.

All the types of Cortez and Hannity want to do is advocate extreme positions and flog anyone else who advocates for meaningful compromise.

I continue to look for politicians who will avoid either left or right extremes and endeavor to find the middle for the benefit of all Americans.

Part of this requires new perspectives on the part of Americans who vote. They should not support either high-sounding phrases from the left or low-sounding diatribes from the right. They should support reasonable efforts to find the smart middle.

At the moment, campaigning on the middle doesn’t work. Voters appears to want candidates to veer left or right, not advocate for compromise, so that’s one reason why I am looking for a centrist, even an independent who will work to capture and hearts and minds of Americans who want better for their country.

Here’s an example of what the left thinks and says, according to a story in the Wall Street Journal:

“Senator Kamala Harris of California reiterated at a nationally televised town hall last month that her co-sponsorship of Senator Bernie Sanders’s Medicare-For-All legislation would mean the abolition of private insurance. Five leading candidates also endorsed a Green New Deal that imposes a top-down revolution of American society to mitigate the impact of climate change.

“But, when you look at polls breaking down the actual Democratic electorate, you’ll find limited support for such socialist-minded schemes. Broaden out to the overall electorate, and it’s easy to see how Democrats could be giving President Donald Trump a lifeline to a second term despite his widespread unpopularity.

“’We are on an out-of-control roller-coaster going 100 miles per hour, and we have no functioning brake,’ said one liberal Democratic strategist who is alarmed by the rising tide of socialism within the party. ‘No one is leading, and that void could not be more clear.’”

So, when centrist Democrat Howard Schultz says he might run for president in 2020, many Democrats head the other way and suggest that all a centrist candidate like Schultz would do is shift votes to the right for Trump.

Meanwhile, the far right is no better than the far left.

The right, perhaps motivated by the so-called “alt-right” popularized by former Trump staff member, Steve Bannon, calls for “rights of individuals vs. the power of the government.”

People on the right believe that the best outcome for society is achieved when individual rights and civil liberties are paramount and the role — and especially the power — of the government is minimized.

If not taken to an extreme, the notion of limited government is attractive to me, especially given the left’s predilection for more and more government.

But, when less government becomes a calling card for those advocating against anything from the middle, it becomes only far right fanaticism.

I say a pox on both sides. Neither the far left or the far right has the public interest at heart. All each wants to do is appeal to their bases so they can either remain in charge or vault from minority to majority.

Who suffers?

All of us do, at least those of us who hope politics where the goal is good decisions, not just popular decisions to extremists.

In other words, what about the centrists who operate just a bit right or left? They often see perspectives from both sides and are comfortable finding the middle.

And this footnote:  As I post this blog, the question circulating around Washington, D.C. is whether a compromise to avoid another government shutdown has a chance to get Trump’s vote.  Without knowing all the exact details, I salute the compromise.  It is exactly what compromise should be about.  No one wins everything.  No one loses everything.  You give and you get.  We’ll see in a few days whether Trump agrees.