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.

I had an interesting discussion the other day about whether Donald Trump follows any strategy in his bid for a second term as president.

For me, during my tenure as a State of Oregon manager and as a lobbyist, honing a strategy was a first step in deciding what to do. Commit to a strategy, then follow up with tactics designed to achieve the overarching goal.

If you start with tactics, first, they often are easier to divine and, second, they might not serve the strategy.

Sound like Trump? Does he pursue a strategy or strategies?

I say no. Emphatically.

Trump always flies by the seat of his pants, saying anything and everything that happens to pop into his brain. Strategy be damned.

We got another dose of the sans-strategy approach at the Republican National Convention (RNC) that opened this week.

It was a paean to the greatness of Trump who was exclaimed to be a an exalted leader who would save Americans from the evils of the Democrats…all of them.

By contrast, reputable political polling had said the election should be about anything but Trump, given his tendency to lie at every turn, to enable the pandemic to succeed beyond bounds, and to treat the presidency as just another reality TV show.

Republican strategists – and they were usually quoted off the record so as to avoid irritating Trump – suggested the RNC should be about other stuff than Trump. For instance, what do Republicans want to do for American if they remain in charge?

Then, Trump showed up, injecting himself into every aspect of the convention. He couldn’t help it; remember, he is the exact representation of a narcissist.

One political commentator in the Washington Post put it this way:

“We could have saved the brain-power we spent on speculation. The first night of the GOP convention was, inevitably, a cocktail of kitsch spiked with dystopian fiction, an outsize slice of American cheese served up to a president in desperate need of comfort food. As an act of communication with the American public, it was a dishonest travesty. But as entertainment tailored for President Trump’s hardcore base, it was a brilliant act of fan service.”

There you have it. All about Trump.

My hope is that the focus on Trump – remember he will continue to put himself at the center of every issue – will work to the advantage of the Democrats this fall.