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.

Remember, this is one of three departments I run with full and complete authority to manage as I see fit.

Since I created the departments, I can give myself all the freedom I need.

The other departments are the Department of Pet Peeves and the Department of “Just Saying.”

This time, I almost created a fourth department, one called the Department of the Best Lines in Political Analyses.  But I demurred.

Still, I like when political analysts write good words that prompt you to think and consider.

MICHELLE COTTLE IN THE NEW YORK TIMES:  Such was the case when the member of NY Times Editorial Board wrote this:

“In the high-stakes fight for control of the Senate, Pennsylvania was a hot spot, widely considered the Democrats’ best opportunity to flip a Republican-held seat and, by extension, a must-hold for the G.O.P.  Dr. Oz’s high-profile flop was a particularly painful one for Trump’s party.

“But there’s more:  The Democrats scored a huge win in the governor’s race as well, where Josh Shapiro had the good fortune of running against Doug Mastriano, a Trump-endorsed MAGA extremist so unsettling you have to wonder if he is secretly related to Marjorie Taylor-Greene.”

COMMENT:  The great line is the last one in what Cottle wrote.  “Doug Mastriano, a Trump-endorsed MAGA extremist so unsettling you have to wonder if he is secretly related to Marjorie Taylor-Greene.”

In this line, Cottle manages artfully to skewer two political wing nuts – Mastriano and Taylor-Greene – in only a few words.

GREG SARGENT IN THE WASHINGTON POST:  If you are thinking about lost causes, he writes, how about this one?

“With Democrats on the cusp of keeping the Senate even ascontrol of the House remains up for grabs, Republicans are escalating efforts to blame Donald Trump for themid-term debacle.  Everyone from rising stars in the party to right-wing media personalities are hammering Trump, with some demanding that he delay plans to announce a 2024 presidential run next week (this week).

“In a way, this represents an effort to get Trump himself to accept blame.  If Trump were to act chastened or delay his announcement, it would constitute public acceptance of the verdict that the MAGA movement’s influence was largely responsible for the GOP’s underperformance.

“Good luck with that.

“The most obvious problem is that Trump will never admit that he and MAGA failed in any way.  MAGA can only be failed, as Trump demonstrated when he declared Thursday that he had played his own role perfectly throughout the midterms, while simultaneously disavowing any responsibility in the actual outcome.”

COMMENT:  And, in an even more stupid act, Trump blamed his wife Melania for Trump’s decision to support Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania.

The epitome of the lost cause:  Getting Trump to take responsibility for anything.

FRANK BRUNI IN THE NEW YORK TIMES:  As this long-time analyst politics wondered about whether Joe Biden would run again in 2024, he raised questions about other contenders, as in the following:

“Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat who just won re-election by an impressive margin in the key presidential battleground of Michigan, is Pabst Blue Ribbon with just the right measure of merlot.  She ‘thinks like a general, looks like a ’40s film star, and talks like she’s ice fishing for muskie,’ Sarah Vowell wrote in The Times in August 2020.  Vowell grouped Whitmer with Biden and several other nationally prominent politicians who, unlike every president since Jimmy Carter, graduated from public universities (in Whitmer’s case, Michigan State, both college and law school).  She’s also the subject of an adoring song by the Detroit rapper GmacCash, ‘Big Gretch.’  The nickname took, and it’s gold.”

Bruni explained the beer and wine reference.  He said the person who came up with it likes to categorize Democrat candidates as “wine track” (Pete Buttigieg, Elizabeth Warren and other Democrats favored by voters with more education and money) or “beer track” (politicians, like Bernie Sanders, who are most ardently backed by a less affluent group).

Without necessarily endorsing the “wine-beer” analogy, though I do like it:

• I’ll take columnists who put words together well, producing lines that last longer than reading them.
• I’ll take candidates, whatever the party, who put America’s interests higher than their own.

GEORGE CONWAY IN THE WASHINGTON POST:  Conway continues his ability to skewer Trump and he succeeds again by a Republican political operative thusly:

“One Republican pollster taxonomizes the party thusly:  Ten percent are ‘Never Trumpers,’ who have long despised Trump. (This might be high, because of people like me who re-registered as independents to escape the cult.)  As many as 50 per cent could be considered ‘Maybe Trumpers,’ Republicans who voted for Trump twice, but are exhausted by him and would love to support someone else.  That leaves 40 per cent, the ‘Always Trumpers’ — the cultish voters who will never abandon him, even if he shoots someone on Fifth Avenue, or at the Capitol, or anywhere else.”

COMMENT:  We’ll see which group thrives in the aftermath of Trump’s no-surprise announcement yesterday – he is running again.

Count me in the “Never Trumpers” category, or even more if there was more. 

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.

Before the election, many commentators and observers said the answer to the question in this blog headline would be “yes.”

Democracy was under attack.  Election deniers were arrayed all over the ballot.

But, as the results came in last week, American democracy emerged mostly intact.

Here is the way hill.com put it in a story this week:

“Fears of significant violence or chaos at polling places on Tuesday did not materialize.  Even candidates who had equivocated about the result of the 2020 election accepted their own outcomes, for the most part.

“But that doesn’t alter the fact that the fabric of American public life has become very frayed.

“According to exit polls, more than two-thirds of all voters believe democracy in America is either ‘somewhat threatened’ or ‘very threatened.’

“Even those voters split down the middle in terms of their voting behavior.

“Precisely half the voters who said democracy was ‘very threatened’ voted for Republican candidates, while 48 per cent voted for Democrats.

“The message is obvious:  Lots of Americans believe democracy is in danger, but they have contrasting views about where the threat is coming from.

“For Democrats, the danger lies with Republican election-deniers and conspiracy theorists, as well as with Trump himself.”

I add that, for some Republicans, they don’t even appear to think about the future of democracy.

In the Washington Post, columnist Jennifer Rubin suggests that there are several reasons to be optimistic about the future of democracy.  Here is how she started her column:

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“The mid-term elections could have gone badly.  Really badly.  There were serious concerns that right-wing groups would resort to voter intimidation, violence or other antics at polling places.  But none of that came to fruition.

“In fact, while threats to democracy remain, 2022 might be seen as the point at which the erosion of democratic values and critical institutions were halted.” 

She cited these reasons for her optimism:

• First, courts have proved adept at heading off election-related shenanigans.
• Second, massive early voting demonstrated the ability of voters to adjust to new election rules.
• Third, low turnout in competitive mid-term contests is no longer the norm.
• Fourth, younger voters have learned to show up at mid-term elections, boding well for the health of democracy values.
• Finally, the Republican Party might finally be tiring of Donald Trump.

In sum, democracy is looking stronger than it did a week ago.  With federal and state prosecutors still at work, there is a rationale to believe that Trump and his cronies (minions, acolytes, blind followers) will face accountability for their actions, even if, as predicted, Trump announces tonight that he is running again.

MY PRESCRIPTION FOR GOOD GOVERNMENT

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.

If this blog headline strikes you as a bit presumptuous, good.  It is.

I have no business thinking I will ever be in charge of government, either at the state or federal levels and either by appointment or election.  Plus, I am retired. 

But I do have a few prescriptions for what I believe would constitute good government.

So, here goes.

1. Good government should be marked by asking one important question:  Is there a role for government in regard to this problem and, if there is, how should a government response be designed to achieve the desired result?

Too often, this question is not asked, much less answered.  Thus, we have to pay for government “solutions” to every problem.  Does government have a role in some cases?  By all means, yes.  But not all cases.

Asking this hard question and providing a fact-based answer is a first step toward good government.

• Good government should be about promises kept, not just promises made.

Making promises is easy.  Keeping them is hard.  But if promises are just talk, then why listen?  Make promises, then keep them.

Let me add one clarification here.  If a candidate makes a promise on the campaign trail or an agency head makes a promise in running a program, then finds out he or she cannot fulfill that promise, tell the public the truth.  In straightforward facts, describe why a promise cannot be kept.  That honesty and clarity builds credibility.

• Good government should be about achieving results, not just proposing them.

The “promises kept” and “results” items may seem similar.  And, I suppose they are.  But they also are different.  This relates actually to running programs, not just talking about running them.

Results matter.  Measure those who serve in elected or appointed office by the results they achieve, not the results they promise and don’t achieve.

Or, if by some chance, if results don’t materialize, elected or major appointed officials could add to their credibility by “admitting” the failure and explain why it occurred.

• Good government should be about the search for middle ground, not extremes in public policy.

Too often, government these days is about the ability to win at all costs.  Call the other side stupid.  Impose your will.

[As an insertion, pardon this reference back to an “old” issue, national health care policy.  I continue to use it because, despite the years, it still stands as an excellent example of how not to write legislation.]

Consider the Affordable Health Care Act, which came to be called ObamaCare.  It was, in fact, an apt moniker, not the Affordable Health Care Act.  The program was imposed by Obama and his Democrat supporters in Congress without one Republican vote – and this was not because Republicans were just opposed to Obama.  It was because the Act was an over-the-top, one-size-fits-all, government-run prescription for health care in America.

Was it all bad?  Of course not.  Millions of Americas got health coverage as part of new government spending, but at what cost?  A huge spike upward in health premiums, both for those newly on a government program, as well as those in the private sector.  After all, some payers had to support those new to health care coverage.

The better answer on health care and any other pressing public policy challenge is to legislate from the middle.  Work with reasonable elected officials on both sides of the political aisle – yes, there are some — to develop real health care reform and real solutions on other issues…. for ALL Americans.

• Good government should be about ethical and honest behavior, not bending the truth.

This seems far from the case today.  A government by and for the people should be honest in its approach to the “people” – us. 

Conclusion:  These prescriptions might not always make good sound bites.  But they do make good government.

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.

Now that we have endured the mid-term election – at least most if it even as we await final results in “too-close-to-call” contests – our attention should turn to the question posed in this blog.

This:  How can those who won get past campaigning and get on to the business of governing?

As I began writing this blog, I came again to the realization that getting about the business of governing will require something more basic than political will.  It will require a change of heart that will have to weave its way into politics and, indeed, into every area of life.

That is especially true now as Donald Trump tries to sow discord and dissension as he anticipates announcing in a few days a run for president in 2024, a run that promises to emphasize disagreement and enmity for anyone who chooses to disagree with the epitome of a narcissist.

For me, Washington Post opinion writer Michael Gerson prompted deeper thoughts than just politics with a very well-written piece in the Post. 

Who among our political leaders, he asked, “is calling for mutual understanding and practicing it?  This would involve the concession of truth on both sides.”

Gerson went on to quote Judge Learned Hand who, in 1944, told newly minted citizens in New York’s Central Park: 

“What then is the spirit of liberty?  I cannot define it.  I can only tell you my own faith.  The spirit of liberty is the spirit that is not too sure that it is right; the spirit of liberty is the spirit which seeks to understand the minds of other men and women; the spirit of liberty is the spirit that weighs their interests alongside its own without bias . . . the spirit of liberty is the spirit of Him who, near two thousand years ago, taught mankind that lesson it has never learned, but has never quite forgotten, that there may be a kingdom where the least shall be heard and considered side by side with the greatest.”

This, I know, is a lofty, hard-to-reach goal, given the kind of politics we have been seeing in recent years.

But, for what’s is worth, here are my ideas about what the future should hold.

First, those in office should get about the business of solving – or at least making substantive progress on — two major issues that are gripping the nation, homelessness and immigration.

For too long, both issues have been subjected to talk and pithy quotes, not solutions.

Republicans and Democrats have a joint responsibility, finally, to move to solutions on the immigration issue.  Find a way to stimulate legal immigration and take advantage of the perspectives and energy of new citizens.

For one thing, we need no more of the tactics employed by two governors – Ron DeSantis from Florida and Greg Abbott from Texas, both of whom just won re-election in ways that put them into a group of Republicans who could make a bid for president two years from now. 

To illustrate their pique earlier this year, they used public transportation to deliver immigrants to cities to the north in the belief that, somehow, this tactic would illustrate “their” problem.

It didn’t work.  Many of those on the receiving end of the immigration ploy reacted with skill and empathy to help refugees gain their footing in the north.

The same admonition for solutions applies to homelessness.  Do something.  Don’t just criticize.

For one thing, it will be interesting to see how Oregon Governor-Elect Tina Kotek moves on this issue, which was a major one in the recent campaign.  If there was one issue that moved voters, it might have been this one and, toward the end of the campaign, she said she a major plan to do something about homelessness.

Second, the mid-term election appeared to underscore that many Americans were concerned about democracy in the country, so they voted against the so-called “election deniers” who wanted a dictatorship under Trump.  Elections don’t matter, those deniers said.

Well, elections do matter – and that’s why many of them lost, a good thing. 

Several reputable post-election pollsters underscored that America got through the election without major threats to democracy.

Here is how Washington Post put it:

“Democracy fared pretty well, actually.  Election Day felt normal, with fears that MAGA Republicans would refuse to concede races, based on baseless voter-fraud allegations, mostly failing to materialize.  When Donald Trump wrote on social media that people should protest a minor absentee-ballot problem in Detroit, no one showed up.

“Election officials breathed a sigh of relief that aggressive fraud-hunting novices seemed few and far between, despite promises from popular voices in the MAGA movement to inundate polling places with activists and station monitors in eyesight of ballot drop boxes

“Going into the mid-terms, many eyes were on a post-Trump phenomenon:  Election deniers on the ballot.  By The Post’s count, 51 per cent of the 569 GOP nominees questioned or refused to accept Joe Biden’s 2020 victory.  They ran in every region of the country and in nearly every state.”

Many lost.

So, if democracy matters, then so should a commitment to find middle ground on such issues as immigration, homelessness, crime, police funding, international relations (including the war in Ukraine), and many others.

Middle ground in politics is hard to find and may remain remote, especially of hard-right conservatives in the U.S. House continue to press for an advantage with the new House leadership which will have to practice the art of “herding cats.”

As the introduction to this blog says, I love middle ground – both in golf and in politics.

So, I say, let’s find it as the reality of campaigning moves to the obligation of governing.

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.

Reports from almost all media indicated that Democrats were breathing sighs of relief all night long on election day, Tuesday, as it became apparent that the Republican “red wave” predicted by some pundits and polls had failed to materialize.

Several days later, the Ds are still breathing.

Drawn from various publications here are what reporters often call “takeaways:”

• The GOP hit its high-water mark early in the night when projections from Florida showed both Governor Ron DeSantis and Senator Marco Rubio winning their races easily.
• It was mostly downhill for the GOP from there.  The most dramatic result — so far— came when Democrat John Fetterman’s defeated Republican Mehmet Oz in one of the nation’s most closely watched Senate races in Pennsylvania.  To win, Fetterman, to his credit, overcame notions that he had lost so much from a recent stroke that he was not qualified to serve.
• Why did the GOP fare worse than expected?  The Washington Post says “it was that GOP leaders spent much of the last year fighting against each other or plotting against their own primary voters.  They were hobbled by unprepared first-time candidates, fundraising shortfalls, and Donald Trump, whose self-concern required constant attention — right up to the eve of the election, when he forced party bosses to beg him once again to delay a presidential campaign announcement.”
• Republicans will control the U.S. House, but by a smaller margin than originally expected.
• In the Senate, control likely will come down to run-off between Senator Raphael Warnock and former football star, Herschel Walker, who showed himself to be a terrible candidate during the campaign. 
• At the gubernatorial level, races that had caused Democrats some last-minute nervousness were won comfortably by Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and New York Governor Kathy Hochul.  Plus, in Oregon, the Democrat, Tina Kotek, won the statehouse to preserve the office the Ds have held since 1987.  Further, Whitmer likely cemented a perception that she might be a good candidate for president in 2024 – if President Joe Biden does not run, or, perhaps, even if he does.
• Speaking of Biden, this was as good a mid-term outcome as he could have dared to expect.  Whatever the final results, he fared far better in his first mid-term than the two most recent Democrat presidents, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, did in theirs.  That’s vindication, of a kind, for what has been called “Biden’s much-criticized but steady, low-wattage approach.”
• Republicans in the U.S. House – and the likely speaker, Kevin McCarthy — now face hard questions about how to manage with a smaller margin than expected.  That started yesterday when a group of far right conservative House Republicans demanded that McCarthy take more time to take up the mantle of leadership because they wanted more of a say.  Still, no doubt, the Rs would rather have won by a small margin than the alternative.
• Huge wins by DeSantis and Rubio turned Florida red from its past as a swing state.  By winning, DeSantis positions himself as a – if not “the” – leading R candidate for president in 2024.
• Of course, that irritates Donald Trump no end because he thinks he always is the leader, no matter the truth.
• According to Niall Stange who writes for hill.com, “the verdict on the vexing issues of election denialism, threats to democracy and flat-out conspiracy theories was, ultimately, ambiguous.  Several people who hew to those kinds of views lost, including Republican Doug Mastriano who was heavily defeated by Democrat Josh Shapiro in the race to be Pennsylvania’s governor, and Don Bolduc, who failed to run Senator Maggie Hassan anywhere near as close as some Republicans had hoped.”

For my part, the last bullet strikes home.  Election denialism or rabid anti-democracy was not as strong as I feared it would be.

That’s no guarantee for the future because Trump and his minions will continue to stoke the fires of antagonism and violence.  Eugene Robinson in today’s Washington Post says Trump will not go away quietly after a stinging defeat – he’ll have to be thrown out.

So, back to the start of this blog, regarding the WHY of this election?  Not sure yet, other than what appears above, so there is another chapter yet to be written about this election, the WHY, not just the who. 

Finally, this from George Will, the savvy analyst who writes for the Washington Post:

“Tuesday’s elections should move both parties to introspection.  Journalists could benefit from emulation.  Many of them believe that the nation does not just have problems but has ‘existential’ crises:  Democracy is a guttering candle, dying before climate change snuffs out the remainder of life.  Progressives, because of their mind meld with journalists, talk to voters a tad too much about existential this and that, and too little about voters’ existence.”

Will makes a great point.

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.

As someone who has followed politics for years, I try to focus on the substance of the news coverage. 

Not just who won or lost.  But WHY someone won or lost.

But, every once in awhile, some commentator writes a line that resonates. 

Such was the case yesterday when important words appeared in the Washington Post as a writer focused on Donald Trump’s failure to capture as much political momentum as he thought he deserved (of course, as the epitome of the narcissist, he always thinks he deserves everything):

The Post quote:

“Besides, we’re not out of the woods yet.  Trump is almost certainly going to run for president again, and then we’ll see just how many Republicans are willing to join the former president on his own personal Titanicand go chasing more icebergs.”

“How many Republicans are willing to join the former president on his own personal Titanicand go chasing more icebergs?”

How’s that for a person – me – who like literal more than imagery!

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.

If you spend too much time reading newspapers, as I do, it is easy to forget several key notions about elections, such as one under way today across the country. 

Or, if you are from Oregon as I am, the mail ballot election has been under way for a couple weeks and ends for us at 8 p.m. today, Pacific time.

Today is the first mid-term election since the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.  Since then, it has become increasingly clear that the grave threat to American democracy posed on that day was no aberration; it was a prelude to a broader right-wing movement to undermine our electoral process.

So, as we wait for election results, some of which won’t come tonight (as in Clackamas County where the controversial and unqualified county clerk there says the first results won’t be posted until Wednesday) in races that are particularly close.

To avoid the “horse-race tendency” of many news outlets, I list here a few impressions about elections which are worth remembering on this “election day:”

• WE SHOULD VALUE ELECTIONS AS A WAY TO CHOOSE OUR OWN POLITICAL LEADERS

Don’t forget this as you cast your ballot.  Instead, we could be living in a dictatorship with someone else imposing his or her will on us.

Columnist Gary Abernathy said it well in the Washington Post a couple days ago:

“While it’s (elections) always been a serious business, there should also be a joy to the democracy, a celebration of process.  We live in a free country and get to decide who our leaders are going to be.  That’s a big responsibility – but we also should have fun while doing it.”

• WE SHOULD EXERCISE OUR RIGHT TO VOTE AND, AS THEY SAY AT NIKE, “JUST DO IT.”

So, just do it – vote.

• ONE VOTE MATTERS.

Sometimes there is a tendency to lost sight of this reality.  On occasion, local races are decided by just a few votes – so yours’ could be critical.

Statewide or nationally, no, your vote might not determine the outcome.  But, it does matter.  And, when you cast it, you take heart in your commitment to solid citizenship.

• RECOGNIZE, NOT JUST YOUR VOTE ON INDIVIDUAL MATTERS OR CANDIDATES, BUT CONSIDER THE BIG PICTURE

This admonition is one of the reasons I read both the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post every day.

The Journal gives me a right-of-center perspective, but still center, not wacky right.

The Post gives me a left-of-center perspective, but still center, not wacky left.

In both cases, I focus, not just on individual news stories, as important as those may be, but also on commentary – or opinion – which is clearly marked, an important task for any reputable journalism organization.

Varied opinion gives me a sense of the big picture that is at stake in any election.

This time around, as is the case in many mid-terms, the party in charge of both the White House and Congress, Democrats, may suffer substantial losses.  But focus, not just on the story about who wins or loses, but about what results may mean on policy grounds.

Reading the various opinion pieces give me pause as an American.  With major Republican advances, we may be seeing the beginning of the end of democracy as we know it.

Which is another reason to vote – and to vote smart.

Also, if the question of “why vote” persists, consider this from President Franklin D. Roosevelt 80 years go.

He emphasized “four essential human freedoms” in a what was then a crisis for the nation, which could be mirrored today:

“I imagine a future in which all of humanity enjoys the ‘four essential human freedoms’ — freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.  This is no vision of a distant millennium; the United States is still striving to achieve those freedoms today.”

Roosevelt’s message remains as urgently relevant as ever today as we anticipate mid-term elections results and implications.

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.

While I don’t watch much television news, I happened to catch an anchor say the other day say that, in the upcoming mid-term elections, “the very future of the country is at stake.”

Could be overstatement.  Mostly, though, I agree.

That’s because Donald Trump and those who follow him want to tear the country down, not build it up.

President Joseph Biden underlined the concern when he gave a speech contending “the country could be chaos,” if, as threatened, some Republicans, following Trump’s lead, won’t accept election results.

Here is how bad the Washington Post says it is:

“Local governments have erected barriers and called in police reinforcements to protect buildings where votes will be counted.  Election officials have prepared rapid social media responses to false claims of ballot fraud.  And a human rights group typical focused on fragile democracies has turned its attention to the United States, asking candidates to pledge to respect the results.

“Two years ago, after Donald Trump tried to overturn a presidential election, Tuesday’s mid-terms will test American democracy once more, with voters uncertain whether they can believe in the process, Republican deniers poised to take positions of power, and the mechanics of voting itself under intense scrutiny.”

Washington Post contributor Gary Abernathy struck a chord with me when he wrote that politics is no longer “fun.”

I almost thought he was poised to use the word “bemoaned,” as in that he bemoaned the loss of civility in politics.  He didn’t, but if the phrase sounds memorable, it was uttered by the late General Colin Powell as he contemplated, then nixed, a run for president several years ago.

The quote lingers in my mind.  Politics:  Not fun; not civil.

The “this ain’t fun anymore” article in the Washington Post started this way:

“With just a week until Election Day, the focus grows more intense on predicting outcomes.  And that means more intensity and even rancor in the debates on cable news stations and social media outlets.  It’s getting vicious out there.

“I used to think politics was fun, and, like so many, I pored over polls and love listening to pundits and politicians predict the coming results and argue about the merits of their candidates and issues.

“Even as a kid in presidential election years, I stayed up until all hours watching the Republican and Democrat national conventions – back when it took until the wee hours of the morning to know who the nominee was going to be.

“When an election ended, my buddies on the other side and I would rib each other for weeks about it, but that was fun, too.

“Now, I just can’t wait for it to be over.  Why?  I think that, by entrenching ourselves so deeply into partisan bunkers and so viciously demonizing the other side, we’ve taken all the fun out of politics.

“We’re just angry instead.  While it’s always been a serious business, there should also be a joy to the democracy, a celebration of process.  We live in a free country and get to decide who our leaders are going to be.  That’s a big responsibility – but we also should have fun while doing it.”

I remember the same things Abernathy does.  Staying up late to watch returns.  Waiting nervously to see if candidates I favored had a chance.  Going on-line to see what I could find out early on.

And one time when I had managed a local school bond measure campaign in the Salem-Keizer district, sitting on pins and needles waiting, with my colleagues, for the outcome.

In that case, we won – a great relief.

Today, I sit on pins and needles for a different reason.

I wonder if the election this time around – at least the national one – could mean the end of democracy as we know it in America.  At least the beginning of the end.

In fact, that appears to be exactly what Trump and his ilk want.  They want to be in charge because they always think they know best and don’t need elections to prove it.  Democracy doesn’t matter to them.  If they don’t win an election, they contend forever that they did and then they go to court to prove it, results be damned.

So, for me, politics – in other words, the election tomorrow – is not fun anymore. 

Instead, it carries a foreboding sense of darkness.

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.

If my mind heads off to Royal Dornoch Golf Club from time to time, pardon me.

If my heart and soul follow, there are a few good reasons.

• Royal Dornoch in the far north of Scotland is a great golf course, acclaimed by many around the world as one of the very best.

• Sitting, as it does, in the small town of Dornoch hard by the North Sea, it is both picturesque and challenging.  Plus, it is one of my favorite types of golf course – a links-style course where you play your golf ball close to the ground so it runs out.

• The course was designed by one of golf’s greats, “Old Tom Morris.”  Plus, it had a notable greenskeeper for several years, Donald Ross, who became an acclaimed golf course architect around the world, including in Scotland.

• Its history is incredible, dating as it does, to 1877.  So, if you play the course, you imagine those tough Scots who preceded you so many years ago.  Of course, after they finished their round, often in pounding rain and howling wind, they would retire to the clubhouse for a “wee dram.”  Yes, it’s Scotch.

I have had the privilege of playing Royal Dornoch three times, two by myself, with my wife Nancy (who doesn’t play, but whose parents came from Scotland to the U.S., so Nancy considers Scotland a “second home,” and she walked along with me at least one of those times), and one with my son, Eric, who is a far better golf than I am and proved it on a great day at Royal Dornoch.  One for the memory books.

Another reason Dornoch comes to mind frequently is that a good friend of mine in Salem, Oregon where we live has gone out of his way to find Dornoch relics for me:  (a) a framed flag from Royal Dornoch, which sits on the wall by my desk; (b) a book entitled Personal Memories of Royal Dornoch by Donald Grant, a Dornoch member from 1900-1925; and (c) another book, A History of the Royal Dornoch, 1877-1999, by long-time member, John Macleod.  It also has a place of prominence near my desk.

It took my friend, Steve, an experienced golf collector extraordinare, about a year to find the last book, so thanks to him for his undying effort.

A third book stimulated my early love for Dornoch several years ago.  It was entitled A Season in Dornoch, by a golf writer from Toronto, Lorne Rubenstein.  With his wife, he set out to spend four months in Dornoch to learn the course, to meet the residents, and to commune with nature in that far off place, very different from either Canada or the U.S.

Then, Rubenstein wrote great prose about his experiences.

His words captured my imagination, so much so that, (a) I have read the book multiple times, and (b) was able to experience the course first-hand, sort of, I guess, like Rubenstein. 

On our first trip to the town of Dornoch, my wife and I visited the book shop that Rubenstein described because he and his wife lived in a flat above the store.

[As an aside, it has been interesting for me to note how much the Scots love to read, both newspapers and books.  There are bookstores and “news-shops” in nearly every town.  Of course, there are golf courses, as well.]

One of the lines in Rubenstein’s book still resonates with me.  He said he “loved to hear his foot-fall on the hard ground of Dornoch.”  Hard ground is a characteristic of links-style courses in “the home of golf.”  So, you literally can hear your feet as you plod the ground along the 18 holes with vistas of the North Sea.

Rubenstein tamed that kind of ground, but not just for golf alone.  The course became a sanctuary for him, one where his thoughts roamed among such topics as golf, his sojourn in Scotland, his life in Toronto, and time spent at his summer home in another golf mecca, Jupiter, Florida.

In the long Scottish days, Rubenstein recalled how he often set out late at “night” to get in one more round.  By himself.  With only the turf, the sky, and the sea to accompany him. 

So, overall, why does Dornoch reside so much in my thoughts?

Well, as I said above, it is acknowledged as one of the great golf courses in the world, established as it was 145 years ago.  It was awarded “royal status” in 1906 by King Edward VII…and it earned the distinction.  The name “royal” is held by only seven other golf courses.

Further, the following comments by golf two well-known golf experts verify Royal Dornoch’s value:

• “It’s the most fun I’ve ever had on a golf course.” –  pro golfer Tom Watson
• “No golfer has completed his education until he has played and studied Royal Dornoch.” – Golf writer Herbert Warren Wind

So, the point is that “I have completed my education because I played Royal Dornoch.”

But, not just that.  It remains in my memory and, good news – it won’t leave.

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.

A few days ago, Links Magazine emerged with its list of what it labeled “the toughest greens in golf.”

Arbitrary?  Yes.

But, nonetheless, interesting, especially for me, when I added to the list on the courses where I play most of my golf — Illahe Hills in Salem, Oregon, and The Palms in La Quinta, California.

Now, Links has followed up with a list of what it calls “the scariest watery graves.”

And, of course, with nothing much better to do, I thought of “watery graves” at Illahe and The Palms. 

Here is how the writer, David DeSmith, started his Links story:

“Whether you call them water hazards or penalty areas, golf’s lakes, rivers, streams, and oceans often become final resting places for our errant shots. You can recover from deep rough or a bunker.  But there’s no coming back from a water hazard unless it’s a very shallow one and you’re feeling especially courageous.”

So, at Illahe and The Palms, here are my comments:

• Illahe:  Depending on how you count them, there are water penalty areas on seven holes.  The toughest – scariest – for me?  It’s #16, a tough par 5 where water comes into play on at least two shots, perhaps more.  If you get a par on the hole, great.
• The Palms:  If you don’t count a creek which runs along several holes, with two small ponds, water in the form of a large pond comes into play on only one hole, #7, a par 4.  I can attest that it’s easy to reach that water on your drive or on your second shot – or even on your third.

In the Links article, DeSmith goes on to cite his view of the 12 toughest water hazards – er, penalty areas:

Rae’s Creek—Augusta National Golf Club (Augusta, Georgia.)

Let’s get the most famous one out of the way first.  Patrons of the Masters know well the role that a nettlesome tributary of Rae’s Creek plays in guarding the front of the green at Augusta National’s famous par-three 12th hole and the fairway and green of the equally famous par-five 13th.

Mangrove Lake—Mid Ocean Club (Tucker’s Town, Bermuda)

Bermuda’s Mid Ocean Club credits C.B. Macdonald and Seth Raynor as its original designers.  At Mid Ocean’s par-4 5^th hole, they created a classic Cape hole that starts at an elevated tee and bends gently left around the edge of Mangrove Lake.  How much of the lake can you carry with your tee shot?  The lake will let you know.

Machrihanish Bay—Machrihanish Golf Club (Machrihanish, Scotland)

It’s not a lake you need to worry about when you hit your opening tee shot at Machrihanish Golf Club — it’s the Atlantic Ocean.  Here again, the par 4 sweeps gently to the left, hugging the shoreline.  There’s plenty of room to bail out to the right, but that just makes this 424-yard hole even longer. Should you hit your tee shot left, you might get lucky, though.  If the tide is out, you can play your second shot from the beach.

[NOTE:  I played this hole and managed to clear the water – the ocean — making it to the beach where my shot toward the green was like playing out of the sand.  But, you can play from the sand, not the water…usually.]

Stillwater Bay—Pebble Beach Golf Links (Pebble Beach, Calif.)

Imagine coming to the 18th tee at Pebble Beach needing a birdie or par to win the U.S. Open and seeing the vast expanse of Stillwater Bay lurking.

Victoria Cove—Cape Wickham Golf Links (King Island, Tasmania)

Here’s another 18th hole where a water hazard features prominently. In the case of Cape Wickham’s 434-yard finisher, though, the fairway bends to the right along the edge of Victoria Cove and its secluded beach. From the tee, you can’t see all of the fairway, which adds to the shot’s difficulty. And you’re not out of danger after your tee shot, either, as the beach runs right up the edge of the green.

Pacific Ocean—Cypress Point Golf Club (Pebble Beach, Calif.)

Just up the coast from Pebble Beach lies one of golf’s most demanding holes:  The 230-yard, par-three 16th at Cypress Point, which is all-carry from tee to peninsula green—usually into the prevailing wind off the sea.

Pacific Ocean—Mauna Kea Golf Course (Kohala Coast, Hawaii)

The 3rd hole at Mauna Kea is another all-carry par three — this one with black volcanic rock thrown in for good measure.

[NOTE:  I also have played this hole, though it was too long to remember much, other than the forced carry.]

17th Hole Pond—Ocean Course at Kiawah Island (Kiawah Island, South Carolina)

At 223 yards, the par-three 17th hole at Kiawah Island’s Ocean Course didn’t need water to make it a tough test.  But designer Pete Dye put it there anyway.  

West Whale Bay—Port Royal Golf Course (Southampton, Bermuda)

The 16th at Port Royal in Bermuda is another all-carry par three.  In this case, it’s West Whale Bay that your tee shot will have to avoid as it travels the 227 yards from tee to green.

Pacific Ocean—Punta Mita Golf Club, Pacifico Course (Nayarit, Mexico)

Jack Nicklaus must have been drooling when he saw the coastline he’d have at his disposal when he was asked to design the Pacifico course at Mexico’s Punta Mita Golf Club.  Jack’s Pacifico course actually features 19 holes; after the par-three 3rd hole (labeled Hole 3A), you get to play a bonus hole that the club calls its 19th hole (or Hole 3B).  Its name is “Tail of the Whale,” and it’s 180 yards over rocky shoreline and water to a green perched on its own selfie-spot peninsula.

Hawke’s Bay—Cape Kidnappers (Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand)

Don’t play Tom Doak’s Cape Kidnappers on New Zealand’s North Island if you’re afraid of heights.  Several of its spectacular fairways and green sites have steep drop-offs from cliffs perched 400 feet or more above the tumultuous waters below. At the dramatic, 650-yard, par-five 15th Hole, the green is perched at what looks like the edge of the world.  Anything long or left is likely to tumble a long, long way down to the bright blue water below.

17th Hole Lake—TPC Sawgrass, Players Stadium Course (Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida)

The famous island-green, par 3, 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass is golf’s ultimate do-or-die hole.  All it demands is a high, straight shot of around 137 yards.  Easy, right?  The only problem is that the green is just 78 feet deep and 81 feet from side to side.  More than 100,000 balls are pulled out of the water there every year.

Okay.  Perhaps more information than you wanted to know or needed.  Oh well.

But, during this election season, this is another poll, probably with a high margin of error because, again, I am the pollster, with only marginal credibility.

At Illahe, what is the toughest water penalty area?  All entries accepted.

Overall, the best approach, both with bunkers and water hazards, is to avoid them. 

Sounds simple.  It isn’t.