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 will not be a startling thought to suggest that, with impeachment in the rear-view mirror, it is time now to move on to other important public policy issues facing this country

Such as:

• Designing a coronavirus relief package that will address both U.S. health status and economic growth.

• Proposing an infrastructure package that can produce jobs.

• Looking at ways to build on the Affordable Care Act to provide health insurance coverage for more Americans.

• Dealing with racial equity issues in America.

• Completing Senate confirmation of the Biden Cabinet.

Last weekend, Rahm Emanuel, former chief of staff to Barack Obama, as well as former mayor of Chicago, went on TV to utter solid thoughts about potential bi-partisanship actions.  He followed up in a Wall Street Journal piece with these thoughts:

“Biden can’t ignore the political risk of steamrolling the GOP.  A majority of Americans (especially independents) want him to follow through on his promise to work across the aisle.  If ‘build back better’ is the north star for this administration, Biden will need Republicans who vote against the relief package to work with him on climate, infrastructure, education and more.

“…because it appears that the minimum wage hike won’t pass as part of the relief package, he (Biden) can pair the priority with small-business reforms Republicans have long championed.  The last time Democrats raised the federal minimum wage in 2007, they won Republican acquiescence by adding tax cuts targeted to small businesses.  That bill passed the Senate 80-14, and Biden can follow the same model.”

As Rahm emphasizes, even if the virus relief bill passes “as a Biden bill,” there are many more opportunities for Biden to do what Biden does best, which is to lead in the effort to find middle ground.

It can be tempting to continue giving the Senate impeachment vote an autopsy.  Surely there was a grave Republican capitulation to former president Donald Trump.  Surely the votes in favor of Trump will resonate in history, even as Trump himself, I hope, will see his influence wane.

But, for government to work effectively, Democrats and Republicans will have to find a way to collaborate for the future rather than just to focus on the past.

Washington Post writer Dan Balz, one of the best and most experienced analysts in the media today, wrote about bi-partisanship in a column a week or so ago. His work appeared under this headline:

LESSONS BIDEN LEARNED AS VICE PRESIDENT SHAPE HIS DECISIONS ON HIS COVID RELIEF PACKAGE

“There is a good reason why Biden is pushing ahead with his virus recovery plan,” Balz wrote, “despite the absence of Republican support.  It is based on his experience as vice president during a previous economic downturn during the administration of President Barack Obama.

“What Republicans are proposing as a counter to Biden is not big enough to deal with the problems Biden sees.  He doesn’t want to go small, given the deep problems of the virus, on theory that there will be political will later to add to an initial effort.”

So, I say pass the virus bill, get the country moving again, and move on to bi-partisan actions based on leadership from the country’s chief executive and participation by smart operatives in Congress (and, yes, there are some left).