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.

To answer the question, I use one word:  Yes.

The fact of the matter is that Donald Trump decides that his time in court – and he is there a lot – is just another campaign event.  Not a court proceeding where he could be found guilty.

So, he appeals to what he considers to be “his audience.”

Even if it goes against him winning in court.  He doesn’t care if he loses, for it always will redound, he believes, to his political credit.  And, of course, if he is found guilty, he thinks he’ll win on appeal or just pardon himself if he rises to the presidency.

Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin put it this way in what she wrote this week:

“Four-times-indicted former president Donald Trump began his third significant civil trial this week.  None of these trials has required guilt beyond a reasonable doubt; none covers the alleged coup or purloined secret documents.  But they tell us plenty about his legal strategy as his criminal trials draw closer.

“Underway is E. Jean Carroll’s second trial, in which she claims Trump defamed her in 2019 when he was president.  Trump already lost one defamation case brought by Carroll, wherein the jury found by a preponderance of evidence that he essentially raped and defamed her.

“The Post reported that the judge ruled:  “The finding that Ms. Carroll failed to prove that she was ‘raped’ within the meaning of the New York Penal Law does not mean that she failed to prove that Trump ‘raped’ her as many people commonly understand the word ‘rape.’  Indeed, as the evidence at trial recounted below makes clear, the jury found that Trump in fact did exactly that.”

Rubin goes on to recount that “the massive civil trial in New York concerning his purportedly inflated valuation of properties has gone to the judge for a decision on counts not previously decided and to determine damages.  Trump could be forced to pay as much as $370 million, lose the ability to do business in New York, and face liquidation of some of his holdings.

She puts the conclusion this way:

“We know he views courtrooms as campaign appearances where appeals are made for their political value, not legal strength.  Trump would rather be in courtrooms than on the campaign trail.  In the run-up to the Iowa caucuses, he was in a Manhattan courtroom for closing arguments in the New York civil case.

“He was not required to be there. But he makes more headway with Republican voters by appearing as an aggrieved defendant than by staging and attending campaign events.  He also saves money, conserves energy, and makes the media come to him when he protests his innocence in the courtroom or on the courthouse steps.

“Trump eagerly creates chaos, looks for opportunities to disrupt and continues to threaten judges, court personnel and witnesses.

Rubin says Trump’s main tactic in all of this can be summarized in one word:   Delay.

“When you boil it all down, you get a sense of how Trump treats the legal system (as he does the political system).  It’s an illegitimate infringement on his right to do whatever he wants (absolute immunity).  It’s a stage for victimhood appeals.  It’s proof the system is out to get him.”

So, delay upon delay.  And, by that measure, Trump thinks he is winning and, unfortunately, that may be the case as he believes he is above the law.