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.

Done.

My wife and I did our civic duty yesterday.

We voted at home and put our ballots in the mail so they would arrive easily on time.

It was a pleasure to perform this duty this time for at least one major reason:  We had the opportunity cast our votes for the Joe Biden/Kamala Harris presidential ticket.

It was not hard to do, considering the utter failure of the Trump presidency.

And, without any special markings, our vote for Biden/Harris amounted to the special privilege of casting a vote against the Donald Trump/Mike Pence ticket.

Here’s hoping a majority of Americans will join us to put an end to the Trump buffoonery.

All Americans deserve better in the highest political office in the land.