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 didn’t take much for me to come up with the headline for this blog.

The major reason is that, in the last primary election, I didn’t get to discharge my civic responsibility to vote.

I wanted to do so.  But could not.

Why?

I am not registered as a Republican or a Democrat.  Thus, I cannot vote in Oregon in a primary election.

I prefer to be an independent for at least these reasons:

• I don’t want to be identified with either party, given how far they have strayed into invective and inane criticism.  Frankly, they hate each other, just because of the labels.  Which I eschew.

• I thought being an independent was more appropriate when I served for about 25 years as a state lobbyist.  I didn’t want to be identified too specifically with either party because I often wanted to work what I call “the middle” to get the best results for clients.

• When I was appointed by Governor Kate Brown to serve on the Oregon Government Ethics Commission about five years ago, I had to be “unaffiliated” to earn the option for her nomination.  Now, as an Ethics Commissioner, I believe it is important for me to retain the unaffiliated status.

So, in Oregon in the May, I could not vote other than in non-partisan races.

The solution is to create an “open primary” here.  That means everyone could vote in a primary election and the top two vote getters would advance to the general election, no matter their party affiliation – Democrat, Republican or Independent.

Sounds good.

But party enthusiasts likely will say “no.”  They want to control the two-party system without interference from independents.

Party affiliates demand loyalty to the party.  They often worry that some unreasonable voters will turn an open primary into a challenge to elect idiots who are easier to defeat in a general election.

To grasp that view, you have to stand on your head.

So, I say, create an open primary in Oregon.  If the Legislature won’t do it, which is likely, take the vote in a ballot measure to the people.  With a growing number of independent voters, they might just say “yes.”

Then, I could vote in every election.