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.

I use the word “eulogy” in the blog headline because that’s what this is:  A eulogy to the dog, “Boone, the Majestic,” who passed away a few days ago.

He worked at my home golf course, Illahe Hills Golf and Country Club in Salem, Oregon, with his master, golf course Superintendent Steve Beyer.

Why the title, “The Majestic?”  Well, if you saw this “German Short-Haired Pointer,” you, too, would call him majestic.

He belonged both to his family, as well as to all of us at Illahe Hills where he “worked” (see below) and made many fast friends, including me.

It must be said that Boone is looking down at us from heaven where he is romping in the fields with our first dog, Hogan, and our friends John and Rosemary Wood’s dog, Tiger.  Great image to store in our minds!

Boone’s passing was uneventful, though Steve reported that Boone had been going downhill lately. 

A couple days ago, Steve carried Boone out to his truck for one last trip to Illahe, then carried him back home where Steve and his family – wife and four kids – were able to say goodbye to Boone as he passed peacefully.

If Boone had to go – and it appeared “it was his time” — what a great way for it occur, naturally and at home with his family.

Boone, simply, was a great dog.  As soon as he arrived at my home golf course two years ago, I fell in love with him and enjoyed seeing him work on “his course.”

He was a member of the maintenance crew and, boy, was he good at what he did.  His job was to keep geese away from the course and he succeeded beyond all expectations. 

As I befriended him, I never knew for sure whether he liked me or the treats I had for him in my golf cart.  Probably both. 

Last summer, my wife and I were sitting on our deck above the golf course and, as we sat in the clear, night air, we had the privilege of watching our maintenance staff work on the course to keep it in playable condition.  Our sightline included one of the stalwarts of the crew, Boone.

His job was to chase geese away and, let me tell you, he was great at what he did!

As we watched, he ran around and around tirelessly one of the ponds on the course, tirelessly, making sure geese would not land or pollute the ground if they did.

In a newsletter article soon after Steve and Boone arrived at Illahe, Steve provided this background:

“Boone was named after the famous Daniel Boone who has been known in history as the American hunter.

“Boone entered my life as a young ‘Bennie’ from the animal shelter in Sand Point, Idaho.  That was what the shelter named him.  Our family decided on the name Boone due to the fact that he is a German Short-Haired Pointer and has been bred to hunt upland bird and game.

“That is important because Boone, literally ‘an employee’ on Illahe’s maintenance crew, will take on a key assignment, one for which he is well-suited and which no other employee could do with such dedication and abandon.

“It is to rid the course of pesky geese – and, in regard to those birds, let me just say that they are better when flying than staying on the ground.

“You know what happens when they are on the ground.  Often.

“At his new home, Boone is intent on learning, not just how to chase geese away, but also “to know where the best rodent areas are.”  He’ll chase those, too, away from our golf greens.”

**********

And, now, I add, I see Boone romping around in heaven with Hogan and Tiger.  And, for I know, Boone may be chasing geese there, too.

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.

If anyone thought the election was over, it was not Donald Trump.

Most others who matter are moving on to consider the administration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

Not Trump and his sycophants — some of whom appear on such shows, entertainment shows, not news shows, as the one featuring Sean Hannity — continue to spew rhetoric to cast doubt on the election.

Here is a litany of Trump-led steps that are much worse for the future of our country, with American democracy literally at stake – much worse than talk show blabber:

• Trump refuses to concede the election and may never do so, thus having to be carried of the White House in January by the Secret Service and military.

• Trump refuses to allow his General Services Department secretary to confirm election results, a required first step on the path to enable the transition to proceed.

• Trump refuses to allow national security briefings for Biden, Harris and their staffs, thus preserving for himself access to classified information (and, pointedly, preserving the ability to fire Defense Department Secretary Mark Esper this week).

Of course, all of this illustrate that Trump, the narcissist, cannot tolerate being a loser.

Still, that’s what he is – not to mention was as he led a nation down the rat hole of division and dissension over the last four years.

Does all of this matter?  The answer is yes.

And the confirmation was provided by two persons who served as chief of staff for former presidents – Andrew Card for George Bush and John Podesta for Bill Clinton.

Under this headline in the Washington Post – “The life-threatening costs of a delayed transition” – they wrote about the risks of a lack of a genuine transition>

“We happened to find ourselves on opposing ends of the historic Bush v. Gore dispute in Florida in 2000, one of only four times in U.S. history when the outcome of a presidential election was too close to call.

“While we disagreed about many issues then and have disagreed since, we do agree on one thing:   The 2020 election is not like 2000 and should not be treated as such.

“Election night in 2000 was a blur of confusion. Each candidate had nearly enough electoral college votes to win.  Whoever won Florida would become the next president.  The networks called Florida for Vice President Al Gore, then called Florida for Bush, and then withdrew the call completely.  Gore initially conceded, but then retracted his concession, a first in U.S. history.  In the end, after the recount started and stopped, the two candidates were divided by a margin of just 537 votes in the one state which determined the election’s outcome.

“As a result, while Bush and key staff were provided full intelligence briefings, the Bush transition did not have access to federal agencies and resources for 37 long days.

“President-elect Joe Biden and his transition team should not suffer a similar delay.  The electoral landscape is simply not the same.  The outcome is not the same.  And we have since learned the serious costs of a delayed transition.”

What serious costs?

Well, only eight months after Bush’s inauguration, two planes flew into the World Trade Center, killing nearly 3,000 Americans.  Card had fateful duty to whisper into Bush’s ear, “America is under attack.”

When the 9/11 Commission finished its assessment on the attack, Card and Podesta said it found that the delayed transition “hampered the new administration in identifying, recruiting, clearing and obtaining Senate confirmation of key appointees in the national security arena.”

The commission also concluded that avoiding future disruptions in transitions was deeply in the national interest.

These days in 2020 which is very different than 2000, the delayed transition (it is fomented by Trump) will hinder economic recovery, slow the distribution of a vaccine and, could put American lives at risk.

Card and Podesta, who fought bitterly over the recount in 2000, said the grim realities of the pandemic underline that the transition process should begin now.

They should tell Trump and company in person.

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.

Clear results show that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won the presidential election.

But that reality isn’t stopping Donald Trump from acting like he won and ignoring conventional ways to enable a transition from one administration to the next. 

His “administration” (there’s that non-sensical word again, when it pertains to Trump) has not provided any national security briefings to Biden and company.  Nor has it conceded that Biden and team will have access to classified international relations information.

The trouble, of course, is that Trump intransigence, enabled by many Republicans, could feed the interests of terrorists out to disable America, perhaps to the extent as occurred in the 9/11 tragedy.

The fact Trump is now a lame-duck president will not stop him from taking unilateral actions.

I note that I made a pledge earlier that, with his defeat, I would no longer write blogs about Trump.  Now, I revise that pledge to say that I will not write blogs about Trump as president, which is easy to do since he is almost not president.

His conduct, as well as that of his enablers, is too egregious to ignore as all Americans should be making whatever adjustment is necessary to welcome a new president and vice president to their solemn leadership responsibilities.

Here is the way Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson, one of my favorites, wrote about the bad faith of Trump and many Republicans this morning:

“It is not over.

“The presidential election is certainly over and the result was not particularly close.  President-elect Joe Biden won a decisive majority of the popular and likely a considerable electoral college victory.  Claims of widespread electoral fraud would be spurious even if they weren’t made by a prating fool in front of a Philadelphia landscaping firmThe 2020 election is done.  Concluded.  Finished.

“What has not ended — what seems endless — is Republican bad faith and poltroonery.

“I am not referring here to those voters for Trump who have been misled into false hope.  It is not hard to convince people who distrust elites and are prone to conspiracy theories that elites are plotting to deny “real” Americans their influence.  It does not even matter if the vote-counters are Republicans, because that is exactly what a conspiracy would do to hide its nefarious work.

“No, it is Republican leaders who are responsible for poisoning whatever wells of goodwill still exist in our republic.  Having aided Trump’s autocratic delusions, they are now abetting his assault on the orderly transfer of power.  Through their active support or guilty silence, most elected Republicans are encouraging their fellow citizens to believe that America’s democratic system is fundamentally corrupt.  No agent of China or Russia could do a better job of sabotage.  Republicans are fostering cynicism about the constitutional order on a massive scale.  They are stumbling toward sedition.”

Strong words, you may say.  Yes, strong words are in order.

What Trump is doing is sabotaging the future of the country, which based on his last four years, comes naturally to him.

It’s time for Trump, the narcissist, to recognize reality, if that is not a conflict in terms.  It’s also time for his enablers to do the same – for the good of the country.

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.

In a blog yesterday, I said that the victory speeches by President-Elect Joe Biden and Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris brought tears to my eyes.

How would that be so for an old, stodgy person like myself – and I use those labels before someone else does?

Two reasons:

• First, both Biden and Harris gave excellent speeches calling on Americans to support decency, cooperation, empathy and truth-telling. 

• Second, television cameras at their speeches in Delaware panned across the faces of those in the audience to show that they were inspired.

I was especially touched by the tear-stained faces of young girls, including Black girls, who saw, in Harris, someone they could aspire to.  Yes, aspire to.  Their faces were amazing as they appeared to feel that they, too, could rise.

Harris, of course, is making history as the first woman to serve as vice president and, also, the first Black woman.

One of her best lines as she spoke:  “’While I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last,’ she said to resounding cheers, as several young girls looking on from the crowd waved flags with tears in their eyes.

To put a point on all of this, nothing in the time of Donald Trump ever even approached inspiration.   Blessedly, his time will soon be over, though he likely will never concede.

For me, in viewing Biden and Harris, gender doesn’t matter.  Nor does age.  What matters is leaders like Biden and Harris are calling America to eschew division and hatred and embrace empathy and possibility.

None too soon and I hope Trump will take his reality TV show host gig and recede into the background where he belongs.

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.

As a 40-year veteran of politics, it would be logical to believe it would not be possible for me to grow teary over an election result.  After all, I have seen too many of them up close and personal.

But, last night was different.

With tears in my eyes, I watched President-Elect Joe Biden and Vice President-Dlect Kamala Harris address a throng of supporters in Biden’s home state, Delaware.

• Possibilities.

• Decency.

• Truth.

• Empathy.

Good words. 

Good words that would never have been uttered by Donald Trump who continues to eschew the normal rite of conceding defeat for the good the country and enabling a solid transition of power.

The reality is that he may have to be evicted from the White House.

So it was that, as Biden and Harris gave what amounted to victory speeches, I had tears in my eyes.

They have an unbelievably tough job to turn the country from indecency and division to decency and cooperation – and, as Biden put, to avoid viewing opponent as enemies, for they are all Americans.

Events of the last hours, verify that Biden and Harris have the wherewithal to pull off the recovery task if, as Biden said, all of us as Americans demonstrate the ability to choose cooperation over confrontation.

To commemorate this new day in America (despite what will surely be Trump’s intention to disavow defeat), I cite these paragraphs from commentators.

FROM THE LEAD WASHINGTON POST STORY ON THE ELECTION RESULT:  “Although transitions of power can always include abrupt changes, the shift from Trump to Biden — from one president who sought to undermine established norms and institutions to another who has vowed to restore the established order — will be among the most startling in American history.”

FROM COLUMNIST DANA MILBANK IN THE WASHINGTON POST:  “Donald Trump has lost the presidency.   Americans have sent packing the man who made the lives of so many a hell for the past four years with constant chaos, unbridled vitriol and attacks on the foundations of democracy. There may be difficulty in the days ahead because of (gratuitous) court challenges and (baseless) claims of fraud. The rage he has induced in supporters and opponents alike will take time to dissipate. But for a moment, let us rejoice: Our democracy has survived.”

FROM WASHINGTON POST EDITORIAL WRITERS:  “Biden’s victory — and Trump’s defeat — is a testament to the resilience of American democracy.  In other countries, at other times, bullies like Trump have succeeded in becoming strongmen by promising security from dangerous outsiders, demonizing cultural elites and sowing enough confusion and apathy that people failed to resist the slide into illiberalism.

“Trump tried all of these tactics.  But Americans resisted. They did so in an overwhelming yet orderly fashion, at the ballot box, when it was their turn to have another say, despite the fact that Trump and his allies adopted a strategy of disenfranchisement when they realized they could not win fairly.

“They answered his four years of divisiveness by electing a woman — a woman of color — to be vice-president for the first time in the nation’s history.  Citizens in unprecedented numbers stood in line for hours to vote, starting weeks before Election Day.”

After celebrating the election win, Biden and Harris face daunting tasks that will focus first on controlling the coronavirus, then turn to stimulating economic growth.  Sources say they also will move to rejoin the Paris climate accords, to reverse Trump’s withdrawal from the World Health Organization, to repeal the ban on almost all travel from some Muslim-majority countries, to reinstate the program allowing “dreamers,” who were brought to the United States illegally as children, to remain in the country.

Back to the word “possibilities,” a keynote of Biden’s victory speech.  Nothing illustrates the word more clearly than the rise of the first Black women from an immigrant family to the second highest political office in the land.

“While I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last,” Harris, wearing all white, said to raucous applause (as she joined Biden on the victory podium.

“Because every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibilities.”

I say “possibilities,” too as we embark on a task to renew America’s spirit and inspiration.

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.

There’s that word again – “take-ways.”

No problem with it (notice that I like a hyphen in it), but headline writers and journalists love to use the word to convey overarching results of an election such as the one we just had – or, better put, “are still just having.”.

I will avoid postulating – proposing take-aways – for the national election, for there are enough prognosticators to go around without adding my words to the mix.

But I will propose some take-aways to glean from Oregon’s election, which is essentially over.  I do so because I always think it’s good to take an overall look at election results rather than just tabulate totals in individual races.

Implications are important in the aftermath of any election.  Here are mine.

VOTE-BY-MAIL WORKS

The process worked very well again in Oregon – and that is no doubt a result of the process having worked well here for 20 years.  It was designed initially to produce higher turnout and that, too, has worked. 

The turnout a record 2.3 million-plus Oregon voters when to the polls, or, it could be said, sat at a kitchen to fill out their ballot.  The total exceeded 2016 at about 80 per cent.  Here are two amplifications of vote-by-mail success.

As the Oregonian newspaper put, “unlike nationally, few Oregon races are undecided after election night.”

“Oregon’s well-oiled vote-by-mail system delivered decisive results in the vast majority of contests Tuesday night.  Oregon’s six contested seat in Congress, its three races for statewide state office, nearly all legislative races and key money measures — all were decided shortly after the balloting deadline, thanks to swift action by voters and election officials.”

DEMOCRATS REMAIN IN CHARGE NEARLY EVERYWHERE, THUS AGGRAVATING THE URAN-RURAL SCHISM

Again from the Oregonian newspaper:  “Oregon has tilted blue for some time.  But this year’s election results reinforced the state’s Democrat voters’ dominance.  The statewide votes for former Vice President Joe Biden to become president and incumbent Senator Jeff Merkley to serve another term were overwhelming, as were the votes to install the three Democrat candidates in statewide offices — incumbents Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum and Treasurer Tobias Read and newcomer Shemia Fagan as Secretary of State.”

And, with Democrats preserving super-majorities in both the House and the Senate, the Ds can raise taxes on their own, without any Republican votes, if they choose to do so.  They have not yet announced any tax increase proposals, but you can bet supermajorities will provide a major incentive.

The Ds charge come almost exclusively from urban Oregon which means the urban-rural divide will continue to be a dominant issue in Salem.  Not just the divide, but rural Republicans claim Ds don’t even listen as they pass bills that harm or could harm rural Oregon.

In my past, both as a lobbyist and deputy director of the Oregon Economic Development Department, I have see that to be true more often than not.

The Ds wanted to expand super-majorities by two votes in each chamber to avoid Republican walk-outs when the Rs wouldn’t provide a quorum.  The Ds did not succeed, so walking out remains an option for the Rs when they feel that doing so is a last resort.

One of my friends the other day claimed that walking-out shirked the duties of those who were elected.  I responded yes, that’s true, most of the time.  But, if you represent rural Oregon and urban leaders want to pass bills that would harm your constituents, walking-out could be your only option.

Those you represent in rural areas likely would applaud your action.  And, whatever is the case, both Rs and Ds have walked-out in the past, so, if disdain is warranted, it goes to both sides.

OREGON VOTERS PORTRAYED INDEPENDENT STREAKS

The two best examples are the votes to decriminalize possession of most street drugs and the other to allow supervised use of psilocybin from mushrooms.  Both are nationally notable, as they mark the first time any state has permitted the non-prosecuted possession or use of substances.

To be fair, the Oregonian newspaper says “backers of the measure to decriminalize drugs, many of whom are former addicts with long records of hard-won sobriety, said they want people caught with small amounts of heroin, meth and other drugs to get assessed and treated to end their addiction, not to keep using.  But it would not be a crime for them to do so.”

Another independent streak occurred when Multnomah County voters endorsed tax increases or keeping property taxes at current levels to aid kids, library users, parks-goers and the like.

No bottom-line perception here.  Just recognition that, from a process standpoint, the election went well in Oregon.  And that is not true in some parts of the country.

Now, for Oregon, it’s on to the long regular legislative session at the Capitol and the major issue is whether the process will allow members of public to participate, given the pandemic.  If not, that will be a blot on the Legislature, which holds itself out as a beacon of democratic light.  Not always true.

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.

Regardless of how the presidential election turns out, I am making a new pledge as I continue to write my blog.

I intend write no more about Donald Trump no matter if he wins or loses the presidency.  [I suppose this pledge could change if Trump does something so heinous that it compels a response.]

Overall, he doesn’t deserve any more of my time or my words.

If he wins, I fear for the future of this country because so many Americans bought his line, not to mention his character flaws, which reflect blatant narcissism.

If he loses, good riddance.  Here’s hoping that his huge debts and other illegal actions will catch up with him when he no longer has the protections of the presidency.

Meanwhile, it is likely the outcome of the election may rest with the U.S. Supreme Court.  Too bad.

Though I continue to hope the Supreme Court won’t decide the outcome on its own, but, rather, will assure that every vote, however its cast (by mail or in person) will be counted.  The future of U.S. democracy, under attack by Trump, deserves no less protection…as do voters.

At about mid-morning today, Biden operatives were quoted positively about the election outcome, though nothing will be sure for days, if not weeks.

This election was different for me, though I have been retired from my lobbying career for a few years.  In the past, I would usually stay up late to monitor results, including on-line, then join my colleagues to write assessments for clients.

This time, no.  I went to bed early.  One reason is that I already had far too much of national TV prognosticators plumbing the depths of every Florida county.  Time to turn off the TV and do what I do best the next day, which is read newspapers to get the best take on what happened or is happening.

And, about those polls…inaccurate for the second presidential election in a row.  I just think many of those called by pollsters don’t respond truthfully, especially when it comes to Trump because they are embarrassed by their support.

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.

The extreme, over-the-top, illegal actions of one Donald Trump prompted the creation of something called “The Lincoln Project.”

On this election day, while we may not know national election results for several days, if not weeks, why would I write about something that may not matter for long.  Well, I believe it is timely to convey information about the initiatives like the Lincoln Project and compliment leaders for their strength and lack of timidity. 

Despite Trump, the fact is that there are Republicans who repudiate his leadership, if it can be called “leadership” at all.

The Lincoln Project was formed by several Republican consultants who had made their living working to elect candidates from that party.

But, with Trump, they could not countenance his behavior and his actdions, so they formed The Lincoln Project to go public with their opposition, which made them believe members of the public, if they knew the truth, also would repudiate the president and his core beliefs.

This is how the founders describe their quest:  “We do not undertake this task lightly nor from ideological preference.  Our many policy differences with national Democrats remain.  However, the priority for all patriotic Americans must be a shared fidelity to the Constitution and a commitment to defeat those candidates who have abandoned their constitutional oaths, regardless of party.  Electing Democrats who support the Constitution over Republicans who do not is a worthy effort.

Or this:  “Your house is on fire. Do you care who the firemen are?

“That is a centralquestion of the 2020 election.  Donald Trump has managed to do one thing no other president has done:  Bring Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and progressives, boomers and millennials together in unprecedented numbers to try to defeat him. For Americans who believe the president is a raging threat to democracy, purity tests are out.  Results are in.”

From the Lincoln Project, viral videos and tweets mocking his leadership, his intelligence and his patriotism are aimed both at Republican voters who are waveringand Trump himself.  They have attracted millions of dollars, via donors from both parties.  

“Donald Trump is so completely at odds with every institution in America and so completely at odds with anything that the Republican Party allegedly stood for:  The rule of law, constitutional fealty, institutions, norms, traditions, all of those things are out the window,” says Rick Wilson, a co-founder of the group. “So you’re either going to make a choice between Trump or this country. We made the choice for the country, even if it doesn’t immediately seem to fit with all of our ideological or political priors.”

“Trump is a narcissist and he cannot help but react to threats to his delicate psyche,” explains George Conway, a columnist, a Lincoln Project member, and, notably, the husband of Trump sycophant Kelly Anne Conway.

“Trump is a very sensitive, weak human being who cannot take criticism.”  The other factor, George Conway adds, is that “he can’t think ahead. He merely reacts to things. And what we do is take advantage of both of those psychological defects.”

All of this came to my mind – not to mention my fingers on the keyboard – as I thought about a charge leveled by one of my partners in my old lobbying and PR firm.  With a stern voice, he told me that all – yes, all – Republicans were to blame for aiding and abetting Trump.

I disagreed, saying that many Republicans have disavowed the worst president in U.S. history – Trump.  If I was a Republican, I would be one of those disavowers just like those in the Lincoln Project.  But, since I am an independent, I already have disavowed Trump – and I say that no matter who the opposition is.

Anyone-but-Trump is better than Trump.  So, my vote goes to Biden.

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 would I write about this – the passing of movie star Sean Connery?

Well, let me just say this – Connery starred in my favorite movie of all time – “The Hunt for Red October.”

Plus, writing about this means that I do not have to write more about Trump, that guys who sits, inappropriately, in the Oval Office as we wait for election day or longer for him to depart.

Now, with Connery’s passing, there never will be a sequel to Red October.  Probably, though a sequel was never really in the offing.  Hard to do one when the last scene in the first epic shows the stars – Connery and Alec Baldwin – riding a Russian submarine down a river on the East Coast after it had been pilfered by U.S. military forces.

My mind was captured the first time I saw the movie and nearly was able to memorize lines from it as I saw repeats on TV over the years.

Here is the headline and the first paragraph of a story from the Washington Post on Connery’s passing:

Perhaps I liked Connery because of the Scottish brogue, the “honey-thick” one.  I don’t have one, nor am I of Scottish ancestry, though my wife is and, through her, I have developed a love for all things Scottish, including, it must said, golf.

Connery won much of his fame and fortune for playing British spy James Bond in six films in the Bond series, which developed almost a cult following over the years for at least a couple reasons – the so-called “Bond girls” and the upscale weaponry, including fast cars and pounding guns.

Famously, Connery as Bond was asked by one villain “Do you lose as gracefully as you win?”  “I don’t know, I’ve never lost,” Connery replied.

Overall, Connery made more than 60 films — most of them in the leading role.  The Bond series aside, only a handful drew critical acclaim:  “The Untouchables,” “The Man Who Would Be King,” “The Hill,” “The Offence” and “Russia House.”  Many were flubs such as “Zardoz” and the “League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.”

But, many were audience-pleasers such as “The Hunt for Red October,” “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,” and the Bond films.

Count me as one of those pleased by “The Hunt for Red October.”

As an aside, the submarine used for scenes in Red October has been resting for some years as an attraction near the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry on the east side of the Willamette River.

Well, enough of that.  Back to waiting for election returns as a political junkie.

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.

Money talks in politics.

Perhaps not always, but usually.

If you are running for political office, you want to have more cash than your opponent.

So it is that my former firm, CFM Advocates, reports that huge donations of cash have been made  in Oregon races – and will continue to be made – as everyone drives toward election day.

By the way, the phrase “election day” may not have the meaning this year that it has in the past.  At the close of election day Wednesday, we may know what happens in local, regional and state races, but national results may take days, if not weeks, to emerge.

Here’s how my old firm described the cascade of cash:

“In the 2020 general election, legislative Republicans want to erode Democrat supermajorities in the House and Senate.  Legislative Democrats want to enlarge their House and Senate majority so they have quorums without relying on any GOP member.

“Both sides are expressing optimism. Turnout will once again be the X-factor.”

Turnout appears to very high at the moment, perhaps compelled, at least in part by the presidential race between Donald Trump and Joe Biden.

Salem Reporter says that “more than half of registered voters in Oregon have already returned their signed and completed ballots. With 52 per cent of ballots already cast, Oregonians are voting earlier than in any of the past three presidential elections.  Oregon has a knack for high voter turnout — 80 per cent and 82 pr cent in the past two presidential elections.  Experts are predicting even larger numbers this year.”

Here’s what at stake in elections for the Oregon Legislature.

At the moment, Democrats control the Senate 18-12 and the House 38-22.  They need to pick up two seats in both chambers to have a quorum-proof majority.  If not that type of gain, Democrats need to retain all 18 seats in the Senate and at least 36 House seats to preserve supermajorities that allow them raise to new taxes without Republican votes.

House GOP Leader Christine Drazan, R-Canby, says it will be hard for Democrats to defend such a large majority.  But Senate Majority Leader Rob Wagner, D-Lake Oswego, predicts a “blue wave” of Democrat voters.

Election suspense centers on a handful of races in districts with retiring incumbents, appointed legislative replacements or areas with changing voter demographics.

The best example of the latter is House District 54 in Bend. The Republican incumbent is freshman Representative Cheri Helt who won in 2018 after her Democratic opponent was politically wounded by a sexual harassment charge.  Helt is a political moderate and was one of the Republicans who didn’t walk out in the special session earlier this year.

However, Democrats outnumber Republicans two to one in Helt’s

district.  Her Democrat challenger, Jason Kropf, a deputy district attorney, has raised $800,000 and may benefit from energized Democrat voters in a presidential election year.

Also in the Bend area, GOP Senator Tim Knopp has raised more than $1 million to defend his Senate District 27 seat against Eileen Kiely, a Navy veteran and retired Daimler Trucks executive who has collected $500,000 for her campaign.
Democrats have a registration edge in Knopp’s district, though not as large as House District 54.

A few other highlights a few hours before election day – and, for this list, I am indebted to colleagues at my old firm:

• Republicans are trying to flip back House District 52 in Hood River, which Democrat Representative Anna Williams captured in 2018, unseating Jeff Helfrich who was appointed to the formerly GOP seat.  Helfrich is mounting a comeback candidacy in a race marked by a combined $800,000 in campaign spending.

• The retirement of three Democratic incumbents on the Oregon Coast – Senator Arnie Roblan and Representative Caddy McKeown, both from Coos Bay, and Representative Tiffany Mitchell of Astoria – has created promising openings for Republicans in territory carried by Trump in 2016.

Republican candidates have tried to turn these races into referenda on “Portland politics.”  Democrat leaders have countered with charges of “Trumpian tactics.”

• Senator Denyc Boles, R-Salem, who was appointed last year to replace the late Senator Jackie Winters, faces a serious challenge from Deb Patterson, a pastor in her second bid for the seat.  Patterson lost to Winters by 8 percentage points in 2018.

Boles and Patterson both have raised $800,000, which has paid for some of this cycle’s most negative television advertising.

• A possible upset-in-the-making could occur in House District 47 in East Portland where Democrat Representative Diego Hernandez is seeking re-election to a third term, despite urging from House Speaker Tina Kotek to resign because of allegations he sexually harassed seven women at the state Capitol.

Hernandez is being challenged in the general election by community organizer Ashton Simpson of the Oregon Working Families Party.

If Simpson managed to win, he would be the first non-major-party candidate to win an Oregon legislative seat since Charles Hanlon, running as an independent in 1974, defeated incumbent Democrat Senate Majority Leader Bill Holmstrom, who was caught in a scandal.

• Congressman Peter DeFazio, seeking his 18^th term, is facing a stiffer-than-anticipated re-election bid from Alex Skarlatos, who vaulted to fame when he and his fellow soldiers thwarted a terrorist attempt on a French train.

Skarlatos has received $3.9 million in campaign contributions in his bid to unseat DeFazio, who chairs the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

• State Senator Cliff Bentz, who won a contentious GOP primary, is expected to coast to victory in the 2^nd Congressional District seat vacated by retiring Congressman Greg Walden.

Enough.  You get the picture.  A lot is at stake.