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.

There was big news this week regarding the 2020 presidential race when, presumably, Donald Trump will seek re-election and as many as 20 Democrats will run against him.

One of the possible D contenders, former New York mayor Michael Blumberg decided to pass on the race. He could have been a formidable candidate, if only because of his own money. But he said he couldn’t run based on the left-wing Democrat platform.

His decision could result in an increased chance that retired Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz will decide to run as a third-party candidate.

Here’s the way the Washington Post put it yesterday in its “Daily 202” column:

“In Dallas last night, Howard Schultz seized on fellow billionaire Michael Bloomberg’s decision not to run for president as a fresh rationale for his own likely bid.

“The retired Starbucks CEO cited the former New York mayor’s announcement as validation for his theory that the ideological gulf between the two major parties will be so wide in 2020 that an independent candidate like him just might be able to prevail.

“’The Democrats are pushing an agenda that is extremely so far left that, in my mind, it’s very close to a socialistic agenda,’” Schultz said at Southern Methodist University. ‘You saw today that one of the great mayors in modern history … decided not to run for president.’”

It appears that Blumberg looked at the Democrat platform and realized that, as a centrist, he probably could not convince enough Democrats that he could live by the wacko left wing proposals.

He was reported to be close to jumping in, but he concluded his path to the Democrat nomination was too narrow to be worthwhile.

“I believe I would defeat Donald Trump in a general election,” Blumberg said. “But I am clear-eyed about the difficulty of winning the Democrat nomination in such a crowded field.”

His pro-business centrism – including opposition to stricter regulations of Wall Street and support for a stop-and-frisk approach to criminal justice – would certainly have caused him countless headaches in his quest to become the party’s standard-bearer.

“Some have told me that to win the Democratic nomination, I would need to change my views to match the polls,” Bloomberg wrote.

“It’s not who I am, nor do I think it’s what voters want in a leader.”

So, back to Schultz.

Promoting his new book, “From the Ground Up,” on the college campus that houses George W. Bush’s presidential library, Schultz was asked, according to the Washington Post, whether he worries about being a spoiler.

“I think,” he was reported to have said, “that same question could be asked of the Democrat Party if they put up a candidate that is emblematic of a level of socialism. I think it’s better than 50-50 odds that President Trump would get re-elected. I don’t think the American people want to embrace an economic environment in which socialism is going to rule the day.”

The Post said the crowd of about 1,000 people, including many students, applauded. “However, however, however,” he continued, “the other side of that is I do not believe that President Trump should be re-elected.

“In fact, I believe he should be fired. My view is that there are millions of lifelong Republicans – based on the president’s character and leadership qualities, or lack thereof – who would not go into the voting booth and vote for a Democrat resembling a socialist but might, just might, have an interest in a person who is independent and who is not beholden to either party.”

Count me in that number.

I have grown very weary of Trump’s character flaws – flaws he emphasizes with every passing moment.  He has no shame.  He doesn’t tell the truth, so there is no way to judge his performance in office other than to cringe at what he does and says. He criticizes in very harsh terms anyone who has the temerity to disagree with him.

At the same time, the Democrats are not much better. The 2020 standard bearers are so left of center that they cannot even be found on a political spectrum. The same is true for the D who gets most of the ink these, Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez.

Free health care for all? Yes. Free college for all? Yes. Re-build every structure in the United States according to some kind of new “green standard?” Yes.

Give me a candidate with solid character who will lead this country with distinction and verve. That could be Howard Schultz.

One of my friends accused me the other day of promising in the last presidential election of pledging to vote for neither candidate on the basis that neither inspired trust and confidence. If I voted for a third party, would that mean I was throwing away my vote?

Perhaps. But in the spirit of wanting something better for my country, I am prepared to do so again.  Conscience matters more than party affiliation.