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 is what I long for in both politics and golf.  The middle ground is often where the best public policy decisions lie.  And it is where you want to be on a golf course.

Why do I feel compelled this morning to add my voice to those commenting on last night’s “presidential debate?”

Who knows?  But, at least by emoting for a moment, I may feel better.

One commentator, after the 90-minute brawl, actually used this phrase on live TV:  “What a s___show!”

Agreed.

It was not a debate.  And, if nothing changes, the next two ought to be cancelled by the Commission on Presidential Debates.  There is nothing to be gained by giving Trump another stage on which to emote.

From the New York Times:

“ From the opening moments, President Trump repeatedly interrupted Joe Biden and told lies — about Trump’s own tax payments, Biden’s health care plan, the environment and voting by mail.  As a result, last night’s debate was almost impossible to watch and did little to shed light on the biggest issues facing the country or the substantive differences between the candidates.”

In past debates, it is possible to remember certain phrases that have stood the test of time – and illustrated points worth considering in those previous elections.

For me, one of the best was when vice presidential candidate Lloyd Bentsen said, of his opponent, Dan Quayle, “Sir, you are no Jack Kennedy,” which illustrated Quayle’s lack of experience.

Or, in 1980, the only debate between Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan produced a memorable line from Reagan: “Are you better off than you were four years ago?”

That line was so good that it was used in many later debates.

This time, if there was a memorable phrase, it might have been when Donald Trump declined to decry white supremacy.  Here is the way Washington Post analyst Dana Milbank described the point:

“When he did produce more than a taunt or an insult, Trump’s sentiments were either odd (“the forest floors are loaded up with trees”) or dark.  He refused to condemn violence by white supremacists and hinted that he might rely upon their violence if he loses the election.  He offered an ominous message to the white-nationalist group Proud Boys:  ‘Stand back and stand by.’”

As one voter, I have had more than enough of Trump’s diatribes.  Time to vote for Biden – and hope there are no more “debates” before being able to do so.