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.

A dedicated reader of my blog – yes there is one – suggested the other day that I should research two issues:  (1) how Oregon’s virus infection rate compares with other states, and (2) how Oregon’s death rate compares with other states.

Well, I thought — good questions.

So I did what most of us do these days when we have unanswered questions – we go to the Internet.

I did and here’s what I found.

• In terms of virus infection rates, Oregon ranks near the bottom among states and Washington, D.C. – in fact, fourth from the bottom at 3,304 cases per 100,000 persons on a total population of 4.2 million.
• In terms of virus death rates, Oregon again ranks near the bottom among states and D.C. – in fact, fifth from the bottom at 46 deaths per 100,000 persons, again on a population of 4.2 million.

What do these statistics tell us?

Well, first, we all know these days that you can use statistics to make any point you want to make.   But, on its face, these statistics point to the fact is that Oregon is doing an excellent job of dealing with the virus when you compare Oregon statistics to other states and D.C.

Of course, there is always room for improvement in such an endeavor because, in the end, the vaccine is the key to the future of living without the virus, as well as allowing the economy to recover.

I have said before that I am glad I don’t have the job Oregon Governor Kate Brown and her staff face every day:  Making life and death decisions about the virus.

There are no right answers.  Good ones?  Yes.  Rational ones?  Yes. 

But, no matter what the governor and her staff do they will face criticism.

I, for one, will give the governor and her staff room to operate and make the best decisions for all of Oregon as the statistics above indicate they have done so far.  Their record has earned them credibility.

And, I also will trust that, under pressure, she and her staff will turn for help to private sector operations like Salem Health, which has won plaudits for its operation of the mass vaccine site at the State Fairgrounds in Salem and Western Oregon University in Monmouth.