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.

When something good happens, I want to relish it rather than moving on immediately to the next challenge.

Consider golf for a moment.

If I hit a good shot or shoot a good score – or just have fun on a golf course – I want to relish the experience before moving on to the next shot or the next game.

So it is, at this moment, with politics.

I want to relish the experience of watching Joe Biden and Kamala Harris ascend to the presidency and vice presidency, a welcome relief from the tragedy of the last four years.

But, at the same time, I want to look at the Biden-Harris ascendancy with a dose of realism.

As good and competent as Biden and Harris are, they will not be able to achieve all they want — possibility, dignity, honesty and empathy, qualities lost during the Trump years – in one fell swoop.

Congressman James Clyburn put it well on the day before the inauguration when, in response to a question from a reporter, he said “restoration begins with the first step, so take small steps one at a time.”

I wish success for Biden and Harris as they take the first steps in such issues as these:

• Find a way to make good on their pledges of fealty for millions of Americans who voted for Trump and who believe the election was stolen from him.  It should be possible for at least some of these Americans to plow new ground and give Biden-Harris a chance.  It also is likely some of them will never change.

PEW Research reported this week that one of its surveys showed a significant proportion – though not necessarily a majority — of Republicans were considering how to disconnect from Trump.  They might not attach directly to Biden, but at least some were poised to support something different than fierce antagonism against those with whom they disagreed.  Perhaps a sign of hope.

• Find a way to work with Members of Congress when both the House and Senate are split nearly down the middle.  Democrats are in charge in both chambers, but as in any set of majority-minority relationships, how the majority manages its control, as well as listens to those who are not in charge, will tell a tale about success or failure.

• Find a way to control the demands of the left – they like to call themselves ”progressives,” though I disdain from using the term because most of them, to me, do not want progress, they only want what they want when they want it.  Yet, they believe they won the election, so controlling their more extreme instincts will take all the skill Biden and Harris possess.

Political leadership is difficult to define.  For me, over my more than 40 years involved in politics, I came to the conclusion that you don’t easily define it just in words.  You define it in deeds.

And, on that score, Biden-Harris are off to a good start, even if they leaven their aspirations with realism.