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 to 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 press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon, as an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, as press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and as 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.

The presidential debates – the only ones live now are among the Democrats bidding for the right to oppose Donald Trump – tell us almost nothing about who would make the best U.S. president.

The eighth one in the dispiriting series for Democrats was up last night.  You can guess that the winner was Donald Trump because the remaining Ds focused on tearing each other down, not building each other up.

Here in the way veteran Washington Post political reporter Dan Balz analyzed the debate:

“The tone of the debate ultimately became a metaphor for the Democrat race itself, as it was marred repeatedly by candidates interrupting one another, talking over each other and constantly ignoring the moderators’ efforts to bring some order to the unruly evening.  The event did little to raise the confidence level of the Democrat voters who will be selecting a nominee to go up against President Trump.

“For Trump, this was one more debate that served his purposes.  A divided Democrat Party and a nomination battle that often seems to do as much to diminish the candidates as to elevate them is what he enjoys seeing.”

Or this, from another Post writer, Dana Milbank, who used the professional wrestling analogy:

“Within the first few minutes, the CBS News moderators lost control. Candidates shouted at each other, talked over the moderators and interrupted at will. ‘He spoke over time, and I’m going to talk!’ bellowed Biden. The audience cheered and booed as if watching professional wrestling.”

That’s what politics has become today, at least on the national scene as all of those bidding — supposedly – to represent us actually represent either themselves or a political party.

In words, that appeared before the debate, Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson decried the “destruction of political institutions before our eyes.”

“From one perspective, this has come in a swift, confusing rush of events. From another, it has seemed to unfold in slow motion. Everyone sees the vase falling toward the ground, but no one seems capable of stopping the impact. And that is what a Donald Trump/Bernie Sanders presidential contest would be:  The shattering of our two-party political system.

“One of the parties — which I used to call my own — has already been captured by the most extreme, disturbing element of its traditional coalition. The radicals promised a revolution against an out-of-touch elite. They succeeded, in part, through bullying and intimidation. They have devalued governing skill and compromise. They have elevated potent cultural symbols that unite and motivate their own — such as the fight against an imaginary “deep state” — rather than seeking to unite and inspire the country.

“And now the other party — as though by some horrible compulsion for imitation — is being captured by the most extreme, disturbing element of its traditional coalition. The radicals are succeeding, in part, through bullying and intimidation. They devalue governing skill and compromise. They employ potent cultural symbols — such as the demand for “revolution” and the demonization of moderation — to unite and motivate their own tribe rather than seeking to unite the country.”

So, we trundle on with more debates, which really are not debates.  They are simply platforms for more diatribe and “got-cha” quotes.  I am waiting, probably fruitlessly, for debates that focus on real issues – health care quality and access, infrastructure planning, environmental regulation, etc.

For my part, I did not watch the debate last night, preferring to make my own decisions about the presidential race, unencumbered by the contrived “debate.”