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 easiest answer to the question in the headline is that there isn’t one.

Consider these facts:

• Democrats strengthened their hold on power in Oregon, winning the only statewide office – Secretary of State — that Republicans – had held previously.  The Ds also confirmed super-majorities in the Oregon House and Senate.
• Oregon Republicans took only a small bit of solace as they were able to avoid the Ds winning “walk-out proof” majorities in both chambers. 
• Republicans also retained the one representative they had in Congress from Oregon, the Eastern Oregon seat occupied by retiring Greg Walden and now held by former state senator Cliff Bentz.

These results tend to confirm that the “two Oregons” issue – urban versus rural and the reverse – is still alive and well in our state.

It has been contended that urban Democrats who run the Legislature don’t understand rural Oregon.  And, on the other side, it is has been contended that rural Republicans don’t understand urban issues.

Never the twain shall meet?

The reality is that the best solutions to pressing public policy problems lie somewhere in the middle.  Finding those solutions will require lawmakers who are willing to give and get in the formation of compromise, which, don’t forget, is the definition of politics.  It has has been lost in recent years.

If you wonder about whether there are examples where finding the middle ground worked, here is one that may not be the best to cite, but does illustrate the give-and-take of working for the center.

When, as a lobbyist, I represented the Port of Portland, one of my assignments was to convince the governor and the legislature to make money available to deepen the Columbia River channel to allow deeper-draft cargo ships to ply their way up and down the river off the Pacific Ocean.

A further complexity was that the deal would require money from both the State of Washington (which shares ports along the river with Oregon) and the U.S. government.  Further, the cost of the project likely would require allocations over more than just one two-year biennium in Oregon.

To make a long story short, I was able to convince key legislators to begin appropriating channel deepening money.  In return, I had to accept amendments from three legislators who wanted the state to fund projects in their districts.  Call it “port barrel” if you will, but it was worth it for me to accept the additional allocations in order to get channel deepening started in Oregon.  Economic benefits would result for the region – both urban and rural Oregon.

It was a compromise, an example of where the center could exist in Oregon politics.

Many political observers – including me — hold out little hope that centrist politics will work in Washington, D.C., especially as Donald Trump makes a messy, forced exit from his performance as, easily, the worst president in U.S. history – and as various Republicans buttress his challenges against U.S. democracy.

But, I also am unwilling to throw out an aspiration that middle ground can be found in Oregon.

As the 2022 legislature starts in a couple months, I hope out home that controlling Democrats can be smart about how they lead without rendering minority viewpoints to the scrap heap.  I also hold out hope that Republicans, in the minority, can be smart about how to play the follower role without sacrificing core principles.

If the goal is to produce what’s best for urban AND rural Oregon, the two sides can meet in the middle.