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 (Les AuCoin), 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.  I could have called this blog “Middle Ground,” for that it what I long for in both politics and golf.  The middle ground is often where the best public policy decisions like.  And it is where you want to be on a golf course.

Some of us have taken heart recently when a few more famous Republicans came out against Trump.

• One was Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski. Past time for her to do so.
• Former Defense Secretary James Mattis called out Trump for his threat to use the military to support his photo-op.
• Former Chief of Staff John Kelly joined Mattis in opposing Trump.
• Former Secretary of State and military hero Colin Powell announced that there was no way he could vote for re-electing Trump.
• Utah Senator Mitt Romney has led a growing pack in opposing Trump.
• Former Arizona Senator Jeff Flake was one of the first officials to distance himself from Trump, which stands for me as an act of statesmanship.

Should more Republicans follow suit, I ask, even though, for about 10 years now, I have been an Independent?

I say yes, for the good of the country, which is reeling from the pandemic, the protests and Trump’s failure to deal effectively with either, not to mention his penchant for lying at every turn which makes him the worst U.S. president in history

But, unfortunately, there is no sign yet of a mass exodus from the runaway Trump train.  Such an exodus could occur if Republicans keep getting bad news from polls showing Trump training Joe Biden.

Better if such officials left on the basis of morals and principles, not polls.  But, whatever the reason, leaving is good.

One of my former partners in the lobbying and public policy firm I helped to found continues to rue the day that all Republicans don’t get off the Trump train.  He says not any Republicans do, but I have retorted that more and more are jumping.

May that trend continue.

Unfortunately, if anything, many elected Republicans see themselves as prisoners onboard, calculating that jumping off would lead to almost certain defeat, according to interviews with more than a dozen party strategists, many of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to talk candidly in remarks to the Washington Post.

What I would say again is that, if public officials sacrifice ethics, morals and values to get re-elected, then they don’t deserve to hold the positions they seek.

The end-all-be-all of public service should not be to get re-elected.