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 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.

Recent media reports, as well as background intelligence I have gathered, leads me to believe this:

There is a chance for a Republican governor in Oregon this time around.  A chance.  Not assured.  Am I betting on it?  No.

If the Republican, Christine Drazan, were to win, she would be the first Republican governor in more in nearly 40 years.

In the spirt of full disclosure, I worked for the last one, the late Victor Atiyeh.

Overall, the governor’s race in Oregon has claimed national headlines as “one to watch.”  It has experienced a variety of twists and turns in the last few days, such as the following:

FINALLY, A NEW INDEPENDENT POLL:  Under this headline – “Christine Drazan, Tina Kotek neck-and-neck in race for Oregon governor” — the Oregonian newspaper wrote a story on a new poll done by a reputable pollster, one not linked to any side in the upcoming election.

The story started this way:

“About 32 per cent of likely Oregon voters said they would vote for Drazan if the election were today, while 31 per cent said they would vote for Kotek, according to the poll conducted by Portland firm DHM Research. “Betsy Johnson, a longtime Democrat lawmaker who is running unaffiliated, received 18 per cent support.

“That puts Drazan, the former House Republican leader, and Kotek, the former House Speaker, in a statistical tie for first place given the poll’s margin of error, plus or minus 4 per cent.  About 15 per cent of voters remain undecided in the poll of 600 likely Oregon voters that was conducted on Friday and Saturday last week.”

The Oregonian had it right when it wrote that “the results are a boon for Drazan,” who, if she won, would become the first Republican to hold the office since 1987.

Further, earlier this month, The Cook Political Report changed its outlook of the race in Oregon from “lean Democrat” to a “tossup.”

One more interesting fact in the poll is that Johnson is not doing better.  Some early observers thought she could have a chance to win.  If the new poll is to be believed, she doesn’t.  But, still, 18 per cent is a high mark for a third-party candidate.

INTELLIGENCE FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL:  Through a couple confidential sources, I have gleaned this:

• Drazan could have difficulty going above about 32 per cent.
• Kotek could begin solidifying her Democrat base, especially in the three counties around Portland, which means she may succeed like many Democrats have in the past – winning metropolitan Portland as an offset to rural Oregon.
• Republicans around the state are succeeding so that Democrats will not be able to maintain super-majorities in either the House or the Senate.  If the tallies come true, that would increase prospects for bi-partisan action in a legislature not known for it. 

THE OREGONIAN’S PROFILES OF JOHNSON AND KOTEK:  The Oregonian is running profiles of the three gubernatorial candidates, the first focusing on Johnson and the second on Kotek.  Drazan’s is coming.

In the articles, Johnson comes across as a skeptic of government, which, to me, is good.  Skeptical.  Not cynical.

That’s what government needs to force agencies to justify the rationale for investments of state tax dollars.

Johnson also comes across as a legislator with a record for caring for her home ground, either the Scappoose area in Columbia County or the area where she grew up, the Metolius River area in Central Oregon.

There could be two views of such actions.  First, the positive notion is that she tended to the affairs of area where she lives or has lived.  Second, some could say she took care of her own interests, not the interests of all Oregonians.

The profile on Kotek highlights her long-standing linkage of public employee unions, as well as her efforts to deal with Oregon’s housing issues.  Still, she avers that she will be independent if she is elected governor where she will be in charge of implementing laws she helped pass in the Legislature.

I suggest that the profiles of Johnson and Kotek are worth reading, as will be the the one on Drazan soon.

So, as gubernatorial and legislative campaigns come down to the end, it’s worth paying attention.