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.

Even as President Joe Biden headed down to Capitol Hill a day or so ago to try to rescue key tenets of his political strategy — the infrastructure bill and a far larger expression of his priorities — it is unclear whether he made progress or not.

What is clear is that he is asking for more time to try to cut a deal with various factions of Democrats who, at least for now, are not committing to “yes.”

Frankly, from my post in the cheap seats out West, I have a hard time understanding why some Congressional Democrats are making it so difficult for Biden.

It’s one thing, of course, for Republicans to oppose the Democrat president.  They feel it is their obligation not to give the president any kind of political victory, for they believe such victories will translate into fodder for his re-election campaign.

But, when Democrats pile on, it lacks rationality.

Now, of course, as a political centrist, I do wonder how this country can afford everything Biden and some of the Ds want to do, especially if the proposals cater to those on the far left as appears to be the case.  Paying for more government, including with new taxes, raises questions for me. 

Still, from a purely political standpoint, Democrats ought to try to find a way to band together in a spirit of compromise.  Which means no one gets everything they want all the time, but everyone gets something.

That  means Biden, the president who claimed bi-partisan negotiating skills as he ran for office, will now have to engage in partisan negotiations.

Washington Post writer Michael Gerson made similar points in a column late last week, so, for some of what appears below, I credit Gerson.

• TAKE CREDIT FOR INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTS:  Senate passage of a $1.2 trillion infrastructure package, with the bi-partisan support of 69 members, is an achievement that eluded Biden’s predecessor and a testament to Biden’s negotiating skills.  

The results include one of the largest investments in roads and bridges since Dwight D. Eisenhower’s creation of the National Highway System, the expansion of broadband to millions of the bypassed, the modernization of public transport, the revamping of the electrical grid and the upgrade of water systems.

There is enough prime, grade-A political pork — needed pork, justified pork, moral pork — in this package for members of Congress to claim credit from now till Doomsday, or Election Day (whichever comes first).

• TAKE CREDIT FOR “SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTS:  People call the $3.5 trillion social spending package the “$3.5 trillion social spending package” because there is no more specific way to characterize legislation that includes universal pre-K, dental benefits in Medicare, an extension of the child tax credit, promotion of agricultural conservation, improvement to Veterans Affairs hospitals, an allowance for Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices, two free years of community college, increased spending on home care, consumer rebates for weatherization, investment in affordable housing, a federal medical leave benefit, etc., etc., etc.  All of which can be explained to the public.

Take credit for that, or….

• FIND A WAY TO AGREE ON SOMETHING SMALLER – AND EXPLAINABLE:  Wouldn’t it have been more useful for Democrats to pick one ambitious element of their agenda — say, making the child tax credit permanent — and force a national debate on its merits?  This is the most dramatically “pro-family” initiative by the federal government in recent memory.  Parents would continue to receive $3,000 per child, per year, paid out as a monthly benefit (with an additional $600 payment for children under the age of 6). This one measure would keep more than 4 million children out of poverty and cut the overall poverty rate by 40 percent.
• THEN TAKE CREDIT FOR SMALLER INVESTMENTS IF THAT’S WHAT OCCURS:  Take the slimmest possible win as a massive political mandate…take a few large wins — say, on the infrastructure package and the child tax credit — and explain them to the public. In this case, the overarching message would be a focus on tangible things such as roads, bridges, and children.

So, as Biden continues to work the process, Gerson has good advice.  Take credit for smaller wins and explain them to the public.

But, first, Biden has to gain buy-in from his own party in Congress.