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.

It didn’t take long for Republicans in Congress to go after Joe Biden as he took actions to implement policies that propelled his run for president.

True, some of the actions were repudiations of former President Donald Trump and those deserved, in general, to be sent to the dust bin.

“To restore the soul and secure the future of America requires so much more than words,” Joe Biden said in his inaugural address.  “It requires the most elusive of all things in a democracy:  Unity.”

The question, only a week later, is whether unity is more than just a word.

When, after his inaugural speech, Biden signed a series of executive orders on climate change, LGBTQ rights, racial disparities and other controversial issues, it was too much for some on the right who said his actions “were a contradiction.”

“President Biden promised unity,” according to Senator Tom Cotton, a Republican from Arkansas,“ but his first action was to kill jobs.”

“Unity themes and divisive actions,” grumbled Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn on Twitter.  Florida Republican Marco Rubio protested:  “A radical leftist agenda in a divided country will not help unify our country.  It will only confirm 75 million Americans biggest fears about the new administration.”

Washington Post writers, already in Biden’s corner, having endorsed him for president, took on Biden opponents in an editorial under this headline:

No, President Biden has not already renounced ‘unity’

In fact, the Post says, there was no contradiction.

“In a dictatorship, unity is easy; one must agree with the leader on all matters or suffer state retribution.  In a pluralistic democracy, unity is the ‘most elusive of things,’ as Biden said in his inaugural address.

“The nation’s political system is designed to manage and channel disagreement peacefully and, ideally, with a level of respect and decorum.  Power shifts, and policies change accordingly, but everyone accepts these moves as legitimate because of an overriding allegiance to the system.  That system ensures that no one gets everything they want and everyone has a fair chance to appeal to the people.

“Unity in such a system requires, first, that the actors within it recognize that one can disagree in good faith.  Those with different views are not the enemy of the people, and they should be listened to seriously.  Second, unity requires that politicians prioritize achieving things for the country over ruining their political opponents.  They should look for win-win scenarios.  Third, it requires respect for the process.  Leaders should refrain from abusing the system to rout the other side, either when wielding power or obstructing its use.

“But unity never meant passing policies that charm both the minority and the newly earned majority.  It was always more about process than policy:  About mutual respect, and restoring the norms that a certain Florida resident blew out of the water.  Most important, it was about ideals — democracy, for starters, and equality over ‘racism, nativism, fear, demonization,’ as Biden put it.”

So, to Biden, unity is working together while, at the same time, standing on principle, as long as principle does not include calling those who disagree enemies.  That is something he will not do as he searches for win-win solutions.

What’s needed is the ability, the commitment, to rise above political generalizations and find the smart middle ground.  If that occurs, American democracy will be stronger and that is a welcome goal after four years of dissension.