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.

I wrote the other day that, if was in charge, I would impose a Covid vaccine mandate and let the chips fall where they may.

What chips?

Well, first, no doubt there would be many lawsuits arguing there was not to impose such a thing.

Second, no doubt many would protest the action, apparently believing that they should be in charge of their own bodies, even if “being in charge” was selfish and meant that others would be infected.

So, for the country, what’s involved in such a mandate ?  This is oversimplified, but two factors – the development of public policy and affrect of public relations.

Washington Post writer Aaron Blake wrote about this today in a story that appeared under this headline:

The GOP is losing the argument on coronavirus mandates

The Republican Party has rather clearly marched itself into a minority position, from masks in schools to targeted vaccine mandates

Here is how his piece started:

“Early in the coronavirus pandemic, mitigation was by and large a consensus issue. To be sure, there were those who balked at or even fought masking — most notably President Donald Trump, who eschewed wearing them — but the American people were generally on the same page. Three-fourths supported mask mandates.

“A year and a half later, despite the resurgence of the pandemic amid the delta variant, there is no such consensus.  Republican governors who once signed off on mask mandates are making fighting against them a cause celebre.  Mandates in general are the issue du jour, with some calling for extending them to vaccines, even as large swaths of the public (and especially Republicans) refuse to get vaccinated.

“There are certainly valid debates about what the government should require, morally speaking.  But on the political front, the Republican Party has rather clearly marched itself into a minority position.”

To validate his point, Blake provided these statistics based on recent, credible polling:

“Mask mandates have fallen in popularity in recent months, apparently thanks in large part to vaccinated people who support the concept but thought getting the shots would absolve them of that responsibility, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention initially advised.

“But on the central battleground — masks in schools — 69 per cent of Americans support the mandate, per a new Axios/Ipsos poll.  And when it comes to both vaccine mandates and the methods to fight mask mandates that some Republicans are floating, the verdict is also pretty strongly against the GOP.”

In one poll by “The Economist and YouGov,” respondents were asked whether they would support a vaccine mandate.  The results:

• Medical providers: 65-21 in favor
• Teachers: 61-24
• Police: 60-25
• Military: 59-24
• Federal employees: 56-26
• College students: 55-27

Now, even in the face of such statistics, some Republican governors continue to fight a mandate, believing, I guess, that doing so solidifies their base. 

For instance, Arizona Republican Governor Doug Ducey announced that schools that require masks won’t be eligible for a $163 million school grant program providing $1,800 per student.  Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis floated a similar idea, though his initiative would have deprived school officials of their actual salaries , though he backed off the threat.

Decisions by a governor also are playing out in California where Gavin Newsom is facing a recall election.  A variety of other issues are involved in California, but Newsom is having to defend his advocacy for vaccines and masks.

In Oregon, where I live, Governor Kate Brown has come close on occasion to imposing a mask mandate, but has not done so directly.

So, when all is said, at least for today, more Americans support a vaccine mandate than don’t. 

Will that convince high-level policymakers to impose one?   Probably not, but they should for the good of the country – just as I would do, if perish the thought, I was in charge.