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.

Political leadership is hard to define, but you know it when you see it.

In action.  In deeds.  Not just in words.

I spent 40 years in and around state government in Oregon, including 25 years as a lobbyist.  And, during those years, I looked for political leadership, hoping to see it.

I did son occasions few and far between, though I suspect what I saw has tended to evaporate in the last few years as politics has become a game of “gotcha,” not consensus.

The leadership concept came up again in a column by Henry Olsen in the Washington Post as he commented on the apparent failure of the Build Back Better bill to cross the finish line in Congress, due, he contended, to political leadership failures by President Joe Biden.

In this context, I remember what my boss, Fred Miller, told me when I worked for him in the State Executive Department.  He said, “the easiest thing to do as you watch a legislative process is to become cynical about it.”  Instead, he advocated tolerance and open-mindedness.

So, perhaps the Post writer, Olsen, is being cynical; so be it.  But here are excerpts from what he wrote:

“Biden, by all accounts, is a likable and accommodating fellow.  He built genuine friendships on both sides of the aisle during his 36 years in the Senate.  He prides himself on his ability to use his personality and willingness to compromise to good effect behind closed doors.  For Biden, this is leadership.

“Genuine leadership, however, is something altogether different. Successful political leaders make clear statements of direction, provide specific proposals to move in that direction, and compel people to join them through artful rhetoric and hard-knuckled politics.

“That often requires negotiations around the edges, as was the case when President Ronald Reagan tweaked his tax-cut package to secure its passage. It does not, however, entail evisceration of the original package, nor does it take place solely in backroom conversations.”

Olsen faults Biden who he says may talk a good line, but at least in the Build Back Better case, has failed to deliver.

I find Olsen’s recipe for leadership to be inadequate; at least it contains a verb – compel – than I would not necessarily use because it is too aggressive.  Calling for action is one thing; compelling it is another.

For me, political leadership contains these traits:

• The ability to make a solid case for an initiative – a case based on both facts and anecdotes to prod understanding.  Don’t underestimate anecdotes – real stories – as a way to make a complicated topic more understandable.
• The ability to design a process that strikes the right balance for government between acting in public and negotiating in private.
• The ability to see issues from another’s perspective, not necessarily to agree, but at least to understand as a first step toward agreement.
• The ability to know when to listen, not just talk.  [In this example, I often cite a favorite saying of one of my partners in business.  He said, “God gave you two ears and one mouth.  So, listen twice as much as you talk.”]
• The ability to avoid political labels or name-calling that do nothing to contribute to a solid outcome.  This involves a tough balance for a leader – finding a way to say “no,” even as you encourage further negotiation.
• The ability to exhibit patience because finding middle ground often takes time, even when a leader wants to spur action as the clock runs.
• And, perhaps foremost, the ability to envision compromise – the middle – because that is often where the best solutions lie anyway.

Biden may have some of these abilities, but to be sure, he faces an almost impossible task as president.  For one thing, he has to do a dance to round up enough liberal and moderate Democrats in his own party to support his initiatives.  Further, Republicans believe they will succeed best if they just oppose Biden all the time, even if what he is proposing would benefit their Congressional Districts.  Don’t give Biden any political victories, they say.

In terms of numbers, there are just enough Democrats to provide reasonable control in the Senate, which means that any one senator can influence – read, control — the process as much as he or she wants.  Witness Senator Joe Manchin who has ground the Senate to a halt.

Back to my 40 years of Oregon experience.

The two best legislators who showed political leadership at the State Capitol — working the middle to produce compromise — were Senator Neil Bryant from Bend and Senator Betsy Johnson from Scappoose.

As a moderate Republican, Bryant’s political leadership skills almost took him to the Attorney General’s Office, though he had a good run as a State Senator.  And Johnson, a Democrat by name, but a centrist by action, is now running as an independent for Governor.  The consensus is that, beyond past third party candidates, she has a good chance to run well, or even to win.