Perspective from the 19^th Hole 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.

There is more news that you may want to read these days about whom Kamala Harris will choose as her vice president to go up against Donald Trump and J.D. Vance.

But, if I was making the choice, here is what I would consider, in order of priority:

1. A person who has the experience and ability to serve as president, being only a heartbeat away from the top job.

• A person who has executive experience running government programs because that’s what the Executive Branch does – run programs with responsibility for results.

• A person who comes from a state that is up for grabs in the election… so that person would add to the ability of the D ticket to win.

• A person who has ability in going live with support for the D tickets programs, plus the presumed ability to debate Vance.,

There, but my bias is #2 above – executive experience.

Today, there about five still in the running for the VP slot, though that number changes nearly every day, depending who is writing about the decision.

The five:

• Arizona Senator Mark Kelly [For me, his experience as an astronaut, plus other credentials offset the lack of executive experience.]
• Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro
• Minnesota Governor Tim Walz
• Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear
• U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg

Perspective from the 19^th Hole 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 needed evidence of the point in this blog headline – Donald Trump and J.D. Vance denigrate women — consider these words written by Jennifer Rubin, a columnist for the Washington Post.

“If you wanted to design a presidential ticket most likely to offend women voters, you would pick as the presidential nominee an adjudicated rapist, someone caught bragging about sexually assaulting women and who comes with a history of demeaning and insulting women.  You would make it someone who mused about punishing women for having an abortion and who boasts about taking away women’s bodily integrity.

“Then, for vice president, you would find someone who has implied women should stay in abusive relationships (he denies that’s what he meant but listen for yourself), wants to ban abortion even in cases of rape and incest, favors a ‘federal response’ to prevent women from traveling to states where abortion is legal, accuses single women (‘childless cat ladies’) of lacking a stake in America’s future, votes against protection for in vitro fertilization and wants higher taxes for childless people. (He later said he had not meant to offend cats.)”

So, think no more.

None of us – women and men – should cast votes for Trump/Vance.

Perspective from the 19^th Hole 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.

Kamala Harris, the new Democrat standard-bearer in the U.S. presidential race is facing a serious challenge:  Whom will she choose to run with her as a vice president nominee?

The choice will be one factor – not necessarily the most important – as she begins her run for president, which is not yet official because she is not the formal nominee. 

But she will be. 

She has accumulated enough votes to be the nominee, plus a large number of endorsements on top of that.  Along with a major uptick in enthusiasm for the presidential race that was lost when two old guys were running against each other.

Still, almost no one votes because a vice president is in the race.

Long-time political analyst Karl Rove wrote about this in his recent column, with this key paragraph, though he also added that almost no one votes because a specific VP candidate is on the ballot:

“Harris’s vice-presidential choice looms.  Will she try to broaden her appeal with an experienced governor or member of Congress who appears ready for the top job if something happens?”

That’s a good question.

But another one is whether a governor or a Member of Congress would be best suited for the VP job.

My bias:  A governor.

And here’s why based on my 40 years following government mostly in Oregon, but also in Washington, D.C.:

• Governors have run something.  They have had “executive responsibility.”  They have had to contend with the “buck stops here reality.”

• As for legislators, no.  They may talk a good game, but a member of the Legislative Branch does not carry responsibility for the result.

Now, let me emphasize that I am not bad-mouthing legislators.  If they do their job well, if they write good law, if they strike bad law, if they work to find middle-ground compromise, then that works in a democracy.

But, if they resort to yelling and screaming, as some do these days, then they are not doing their job.

So, I hope Harris picks a governor to help her win the presidency.

Here is a summary of the short list of the assumed leaders for the nod:

Governors Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Andy Beshear of Kentucky, and Roy Cooper of North Carolina, and Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona.  The latter, obviously, is not a governor, but his record of accomplishment in both public and private life is worthy of consideration – and those accomplishments, including his experience as an astronaut, give him credentials.

In recent national stories, Kelly has emerged as a potential front-runner, which is fine with me, despite his lack of executive experience.

Otherwise, to indicate one man’s bias, mine, I hope Harris picks a governor, then wins the election.

Perspective from the 19^th Hole 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 when Hillary Clinton uttered THE phrase – the one in the headline on this blog — that became famous, perhaps infamous?

As she ran for president in 2016, she said Democrats were facing a “basket of deplorables” as they faced off against Republicans.

The impact of the phrase played a key role in her defeat.

Well, now of all things, the Wall  Street Journal, despite its  position just to the right  of center, is using the phrase to raise questions about the man Donald Trump has turned to as his running mate – J.D. Vance.

Here is what the Journal said under this headline and subhead:  “J.D. Vance’s Basket of Deplorables.  Trump’s running mate is on the defensive over his views about the childless:”

“Trump’s choice of 39-year-old Vance as his running mate was supposed to present the GOP ticket as modern and looking to the future.  Instead, the campaign has found itself playing defense against Vance’s censorious views about women who don’t have children.”

Here is more background from the Journal.

“As it always does, the press has been digging up the VP choice’s comments over the years for political scrutiny, and the Ohio Senator turns out to be a target-rich environment.  

“As a Senate candidate in 2021 he told Tucker Carlson, then a Fox News host, that the U.S. is being run by ‘a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made, and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too.’

“That sounds like he was referring to Vice President Kamala Harris, who has two stepchildren but none of her own.  

“The comment is the sort of smart-aleck crack that gets laughs in certain right-wing male precincts.  But it doesn’t play well with millions of female voters, many of them Republican, who will decide the presidential race.”

So, Vance is now playing a price for his remark, which, in fact, may indicate his position.

Childless couples are bad, he would say, and then adds, they should pay more taxes that those with children.

The Journal suggested that“ Vance has also put some policy substance behind his cultural views by saying that the childless should pay higher taxes than other Americans.  

“‘If you are making $100,000, $400,000 a year and you’ve got three kids, you should pay a different, lower tax rate than if you are making the same amount of money and you don’t have any kids. It’s that simple.’”

On “The Megyn Kelly Show,” Vance seemed to be trying to repair the damage, calling the cat-lady line a “sarcastic comment” that didn’t mean to denigrate single or childless women.  But, the Journal added,  “he wasn’t at all apologetic.”

“I know the media wants to attack me,” he told Kelly, “and wants me to back down on this, but the simple point that I made is that having children, becoming a father, becoming a mother, I really do think it changes your perspective in a pretty profound way.”

So, given the controversy over Vance – and there is more to indicate that his supposedly acclaimed book, Hillbilly Elegy, was not about about himat all, but rather his forebears.

An old political saw is that the best VP choice is one who gets applause upon announcement and then is never heard from again.

But with Vance, I suspect we have not heard the last of his stupid background, including his disrespect, like his mentor Trump, for women.

What appears to be Vance’s tendency to say whatever comes from his brain to his mouth reminds of Trump who does the same, without regard to honesty and respect for all others.

Therefore, with the dolts like Trump and Vance, I hope all women will vote for Kamala Harris.

Perspective from the 19^th Hole 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.

• Liar.

• Cheater.

• Stealer.

• Rapist.

• Seditionist.

With that pedigree – and especially Donald Trump’s shabby treatment of women — I ask this question:  Why would rational human beings vote for the guy.

About 20 years ago or so, anyone with that list of offenses, some of them worth jail time, would not be able to run for president, not to mention winning such a race.

Trump did, but then, when he lost his re-election bid, he tried to stay in power by force and violence.

Which is not the America most of us know.  But it’s the one Trump favors.

So, exercise conscience and don’t vote for him again – if only because of the way he treats women as objects, not real human beings.

Further, on the subject of Trump’s view and treatment of women, consider these quotes from a column by Maureen Dowd in the New York Times.

“Suddenly, Donald Trump looks enlightened about women.  (A comment she made in her column on the basis of the Republican National Convention.)

“…he’s in a 1959 time warp, like some spray-tanned, comb-over swinger in a Vegas lounge, talking about skirts and broads.

“…he filled the Supreme Court with religious zealots ending women’s rights.

“…he has been held liable for sexual abuse, accused of groping, and caught talking about his right to grab women by their lady parts.

“…he cheated on his first wife with the woman who became his second wife and then had flings when he was married to his third wife.

“…he betrayed Melania with a porn star while she was home nursing their son and humiliated her again when the Stormy Daniels case went to trial.

“Sure, his convention beatification was a dated homage to machismo, with Hulk Hogan tearing his shirt off and the UFC’s Dana White introducing Trump as a fighter.

“And yet, somehow, Trump managed to choose a vice-presidential pick whose views on women are even more draconian and meanspirited than his own.

“JD Vance, he of many names, is off to a thudding start.  He went on Megyn Kelly’s podcast Friday for cleanup on Aisle Feline.  She sympathetically asked him about his 2021 rant to Tucker Carlson that top Democrats — Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg and A.O.C. — were ‘a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices they’ve made, and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too.’”

Vance has no answer.  Neither does Trump.

Don’t forget for them.

Perspective from the 19^th Hole 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.

The headline on this blog arose because I read a column by Jennifer Rubin, a commentator who writes for the Washington Post.

Her bottom-line point:

“…we should not be surprised that when one’s circle of advisors is limited only to true believers, especially when those closest to you want badly to remain in proximity to power and defy second-guessing, good decision-making breaks down.  The situation is not limited to politics.”

Her point related to President Joe Biden, asking the question about whether he had constructive naysayers on his front-line staff rather than just those who would say “yes.”

Good point.

In politics and in business, it pays to have key staff who are willing to raise questions about a particular proposed action – and to do so with skill, aplomb, and respect.

As we reflect on why Biden chose to perform a statesmanlike act and pull out of running for re-election, it is analysis by Rubin and others that allows us to go behind-the-scenes…just a bit.

Here is a summary of what she wrote:

“Beyond the Bidens, some Democrats, even those closely aligned with Biden, have focused their anger on the role of the inner circle of Biden advisers who, they claim, shielded him from news conferences and interviews, refused to see a capable president become an unsteady and fragile candidate, cheered his defiance and enabled him to hang on to the detriment of his own legacy.

“CNN singled out Mike Donilon and Steve Ricchetti in this group:  ‘That tight circle has alarmed many Democrats who are questioning whether Biden is receiving realistic data about the plight of his candidacy.’  But in the end, according to Politico reporting, they presented him with devastating polling from swing states and dreadful fundraising numbers.

“Whether they played a role to persuade him to bow out is uncertain.  But they, too, must have realized that they eventually would be judged harshly, if not cruelly, by history.  They stood to bear a good deal of the blame for preventing the party from constructing a ticket with a realistic shot at winning, downplaying awful polling and propounding the fiction that the rest of the party would eventually fall in line.”

Rubin then asks a salient question.  “Does every team need a skilled contrarian?”

Then, she provides an answer.

“Maybe so, based on new research from Stanford Graduate School of Business, a Stanford Business School report warned in 2015.  ‘It’s important for teams to have a devil’s advocate who is constructive and careful in communication, who carefully and artfully facilitates discussion,’ says Lindred Greer, a professor of organizational behavior at Stanford GSB.”

The report continued:

“Greer and her research colleagues examined a dynamic in teams, which they call skewed conflict.  In it, one person — or a small minority group acting together — carefully and constructively points out the differences and weaknesses in a team’s approach to a problem.

“When this divergent opinion is presented in a nuanced way in which other members don’t even see the difference of opinion as a conflict, it can provide for a healthy disagreement, the research shows.  That devil’s advocate — which could be an individual or a small minority — has the sensitivity to see differences, perceives them as conflict, and then communicates about the differences in non-confrontational ways.”

In sum, Rubin writes, Biden arrived at an unsustainable position – staying in the race — “largely because of his own history and outlook and the understandable defensiveness of aides and family.”

However, Rubin adds, “Biden and his inner circle eventually managed to recognize that the potential consequences of maintaining a faltering campaign — a devastating November loss, permanent damage to democracy, crushing down-ballot losses — could irreparably mar his legacy and endanger America.

“Biden therefore stands to go down as not only one of the most accomplished modern presidents but also one of the most selfless.  Instead of a tragic demise, this episode might be seen as his finest hour.  He already began the smooth transition by endorsing Vice President Harris.  Now, she and the party can come to together to defend democracy.  Nothing is more important.”

To this, I add an element of my own experience.  It was back in the day when I worked as one of several deputy directors in the State of Oregon Executive Department, now called Administrative Services (which is a change I dislike).

To his credit, the director there, Fred Miller, he wanted said all us of who served close to him to raise questions if we questioned a certain action or sense of direction.  This was important because back in the day the Executive Department director served as the COO of state government.

Under Fred, it was not obey this, obey that. 

It was:  Raise questions and, then, when there was a final decision support it.

That’s good politics.  And good business.

When I raised this question with a friend of mine, a retired business consultant, he said this about cases where a leader does not want contrary thoughts:

“My own experience as a leader of a large team tells me that when either the person in power or with the greatest influence does not want, expect or challenge those around him or her to produce contrasting thoughts and opinions, or leads with fear or retaliation when such perspectives are brought forward, things don’t work well.”

Another good point.

Perspective from the 19^th Hole 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.

Without going into intricate detail, a couple huge contrasts struck me this week – contrasts that could favor Kamala Harris over Donald Trump.

• First, from Atlantic Magazine:  “Whatever happens next, the frame has altered.  Now it is the Republicans who are saddled with the elderly candidate, the one who can’t make a clear argument or finish a sentence without veering off into anecdote.”

• Second, from the New York Times:  “What is particularly important, especially in this case, is Kamala Harris’ history as a prosecutor — someone who has stood for law and order.  Trump is a convicted criminal, who not just violates the law, but believes very firmly that the law does not apply to him and his supporters.”

So, there you have it – an aged one, Trump, running for president without the foil of Joe Biden; and the prosecutor, Harris vs. the perpetrator, Trump.

Two credentials for Harris.  And, both of them translate easily into sound bites on the campaign trail.

My hope is that Harris will be effective calling out Trump for what he is – an aged felon who bodes ill for this country, the United States of America.

As I write this, a footnote is that Wall Street Journal editorial writers, predictably are going after Harris as “too liberal.”  Which means they probably will support Trump for president.

Well, to the Wall Street Journal I say, better to be a liberal than a felon.

Perspective from the 19^th Hole 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.

It’s too soon to say that Kamala Harris will be the Democrat candidate for president replacing Joe Biden who will taking his place in history, though news reports this morning indicate that is essentially there.

But, for my part, I am breathing easier with her in the top spot on the D ticket.

She won a piece of good news this week when Representative Nancy Pelosi endorsed her, adding to what is now a long list of those who have done the same..

Philip Bump, a solid political analyst who writes for the Washington Post, performed a service when he prepared a piece listing contrasts between Harris and Donald Trump.

Contrasts that ought to prod many thoughtful voters to cast ballots for her instead of the inveterate liar, Trump.

Here is a summary of the contrasts Bump outlined:

Age

It’s worth doubling down on this particular distinction because it is probably the most consequential.

A week ago, the Republican convention rolled into Milwaukee, Trump’s campaign giddy after he emerged nearly unscathed from an attempt on his life and appeared to be coasting to a rematch against a candidate seen broadly as doddering.

It was hard for Republicans to criticize Biden’s frequent verbal fumbles in 2020 because Trump’s, particularly as president, were more significant. This year (and particularly after the June 27 debate) Trump’s weird comments and asides got far less attention than Biden faced every time he spoke.

That will continue over the next few months as Biden closes out his presidency, but the electoral stakes are negated.  Instead, Trump is likely to face someone two decades younger than him (Harris is 59; Trump is 78) without the same habit of missteps and rambles.

“Now it will be Trump who will be scanned for signs of decline.  It’s no longer “the guy who fell climbing stairs” against “the guy who was overly cautious going down a ramp at West Point.”  Now it’s just the latter guy.

Gender

Of course, this is THE obvious difference.

But it is one that Harris, if she becomes the official nominee, can translate into a substantial advantage.

This year’s presidential contest was already shaping up to be an echo of 2016, two unpopular candidates seeing whose base was most likely to show up in force on Election Day.

Some significant portion of the opposition to Hillary Clinton’s candidacy eight years ago was rooted in misogyny.  That will almost certainly be a factor in opposition to Harris, as well.

But the landscape has shifted.  Harris has taken the lead in the Administration’s efforts to protect national access to abortion, the Supreme Court’s repeal of which is directly attributable to Trump.  For obvious reasons, many voters concerned about access to abortion will find Harris a more sympathetic messenger than the former president.

The other shift since 2016 is that there are more points of valid criticism of Trump’s treatment of women.  A month before the 2016 election, the “Access Hollywood” tape was released, spurring a flurry of allegations from women who complained they had been forcibly kissed or touched by Trump.

Last year, one such incident led to a significant financial judgment:  A jury determined that Trump had raped — using the judge’s language — writer E. Jean Carroll.

Relationship with criminal justice

Once Biden’s withdrawal was announced and Democrats consolidated (still incompletely) around Harris, her supporters noted the applicability of her pre-Senate career:  Harris is a former district attorney and state attorney general.

Trump’s relationship with government prosecutors, of course, is as a target.  Or, call him what is, which is a felon.

When Harris was (ultimately unsuccessfully) seeking the Democrat nomination in 2020, she used this contrast as an argument for her candidacy.

Again, this was before the spate of criminal charges targeting Trump and before the lawsuit from Carroll.  It was before Trump tried to overturn the results of the 2020 election and before he took classified documents to Florida after leaving office.  

Trump’s response to his indictments in Manhattan and in Fulton County, Georgia, at times seemed to highlight that the prosecutors who obtained the indictments were Black.  More than once, he explicitly accused them of being racist against White people.  Which, of course, is a contrast in its own right.

Race

One of the underappreciated aspects of American demography is that younger Americans are more likely to be Asian, Black, Hispanic or mixed-race than are older Americans.  In other words, talking about the political views of younger Americans and those of non-White Americans is often talking about a lot of the same people.

Harris — young only by the standard of the 2024 presidential contest to this point — is a reflection of America’s increased diversity.  She is Black and South Asian, one of 10 per cent Americans of a mixed racial background.  (About 15 per cent of U.S. residents younger than 18 are multiracial.)  It is not the case that this guarantees Harris significant support from Black, South Asian or other non-White voting groups, certainly, but it does draw a sharper contrast with Trump.

It may also play into Trump’s explicit efforts to characterize White Americans as embattled.

Record in office

At its convention, the Republican Party was relentless in targeting Biden and his record in office.  Harris was mentioned more than she had been in 2020, but the focus was on making the political case against the incumbent.

Suddenly, that’s largely gone.  Harris, as Biden’s vice president, can be criticized for the Administration’s perceived failures or for her work as vice president (both real and exaggerated).  But she also remains at a distance from much of it.  The Administration’s positions on the Afghanistan withdrawal or the war in Gaza are much easier to tie to Biden than to Harris.

And here is Bump’s conclusion:

We’re in an unusual situation.  The candidate likely to be running as a continuation of the incumbent Administration is someone who has not herself served as president.  The candidate running as the challenger to the incumbent has a record in office.  Harris can present herself as a blank slate to voters in a way that Trump cannot, an inversion of recent incumbent-challenger patterns.

All these distinctions ignore the most obvious, of course:  That the election will be between a Democrat and a Republican with very different visions of the United States and of the presidency.

That was always the case. The transition from Biden to (presumably) Harris means that the choice being made by voters in November now unfolds along several other dimensions, too.

And my conclusion:  It is too soon to tell how these contrasts will make their way into the election.

But, for now and for me, they provide excellent reasons to vote for Harris if – or perhaps when – she becomes the official nominee.

Perspective from the 19^th Hole 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.

Joe Biden performed a statesmanlike act yesterday by bowing out of the presidential election.

That’s clearly my view as I breathed a sigh of relief – both for Biden and for the country.

Republicans, of course, had a different view, suggested that leading Democrats hid Biden’s health status for months, then flipped the script only a few months before the presidential campaign.

There is little doubt but that Donald Trump, who fancies himself as a Republican, though he doesn’t look like any past Republican, wanted to run against Biden.

To be sure, there are as many views today, the day after Biden dropped out, as there are commentators writing or talking for a living.

From my position in the “not-directly-involved, cheap seats out West,” I have a huge sense of relief that Biden dropped out by performing what I consider to be a selfless act.

Biden is out.  Trump remains. 

And that is not bad for the country.  So, best wishes to Kamala Harris.

The commentator I liked best this morning was Dana Milbank who writes for the Washington Post.  (I read that newspaper every day, as well as the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, with sometimes addition of Atlantic Magazine.)

Here is how Milbank started his column.

“On Sunday morning, House Speaker Mike Johnson declared that President Biden absolutely, positively had to run for another four years as president.

“It’s not possible to simply just switch out a candidate who has been chosen through the democratic, small-d democratic process.”

“On Sunday afternoon, Johnson proclaimed that Biden absolutely, positively could not remain in office for even one more minute.

“He must resign the office immediately.”

Are you confused, Milbank asked.  Led by Johnson, the Republicans certainly are.

Milbank adds:  “They (the Republicans)  wanted desperately to campaign against Biden this fall, and their party’s nominee, Donald Trump, had built his entire campaign around beating an opponent he could portray as old and feebleminded.

“Biden upended everything Sunday with these words:  “I believe it is in the best interest of my party and my country for me to stand down.”

Until now, Milbank wrote, voters faced a choice between two deeply unpopular options:  Trump, a felon, a liar, and a threat to democracy, which he still is; and Biden who some thought was “cognitively unfit” to campaign for re-election.

Now the scene has shifted and Vice President Harris, armed with Biden’s endorsement, is setting out to organize a coalition in her name that, among other things, would allow her to use Biden’s campaign war chest, plus describe Trump and his minions as a huge threat to America’s way of life.

It won’t come easy, though, as some Democrats – not all, but some – want an “open convention.”  Which strikes me as foolhardy because it gives more aid and comfort to Republicans.

Those folks – Republicans — can do enough damage to themselves without Democrats aiding and abetting them.

For his part, Milbank reports that Trump couldn’t quite bring himself to stop campaigning against Biden on Sunday.

“Crooked Joe Biden was not fit to run for President and is certainly not fit to serve — and never was!  Crooked Joe Biden is the Worst President, by far, in the History of our Nation.”  Typical Trump blather.

Milbank concludes with a statement that mimics my view, one buttressed by a sense of relief that Biden has made a selfless gesture. 

“Biden’s action has returned this campaign to what it must be about:  The singular menace of Donald Trump.”

Perspective from the 19^th Hole 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.

Those who know me know that I am a bit of a political junkie, given my long career in politics.  In retirement, however, I also find other stuff to do with my time.

I don’t watch much political news on television, preferring the well-written articles in the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and the New York Times.

I often grow tired about how politics is played these days.  Rarely in the middle.  Often the left and right extremes.  Sometimes even violence or threats of the same.

So it was today that I noticed a story on my laptop – good quotes from Yogi Berra, the great New York Yankee catcher who died in 2015.

Besides being a solid baseball player, he was known for good quotes and malapropisms – and, if you don’t know what that word means, here is a definition:

“The mistaken use of a word in place of a similar-sounding one, often with unintentionally amusing effect.”

For Berra, he found a way to be terribly funny, while also delivering his message. 

Consider these famous Berra-isms:

1. “It’s like deja vu all over again.”

2. “We made too many wrong mistakes.”

3. “You can observe a lot just by watching.”

4. “A nickel ain’t worth a dime anymore.”

5. “He hits from both sides of the plate.  He’s amphibious.”

6. “If the world was perfect, it wouldn’t be.”

7. “If you don’t know where you’re going, you might end up some place else.”

8. Responding to a question about remarks attributed to him that he did not think were his: “I really didn’t say everything I said.”

9. “The future ain’t what it used to be.”

10. “I think Little League is wonderful.  It keeps the kids out of the house.”

11. On why he no longer went to Ruggeri’s, a St. Louis restaurant: “Nobody goes there anymore because it’s too crowded.”

12. “I always thought that record would stand until it was broken.”

13. “We have deep depth.”

14. “All pitchers are liars or crybabies.”

15. When giving directions to Joe Garagiola to his New Jersey home, which is accessible by two routes:  “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.”

16. “Always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise they won’t come to yours.”

17. “Never answer anonymous letters.”

18. On being the guest of honor at an awards banquet:  “Thank you for making this day necessary.”

19. “The towels were so thick there I could hardly close my suitcase.”

20. “Half the lies they tell about me aren’t true.”

21. As a general comment on baseball:  “90 per cent of the game is half mental.”

22. “I don’t know if they were men or women running naked across the field.  They had bags over their heads.”

23. “It gets late early out there.”

24. “Yogi, you are from St. Louis, we live in New Jersey, and you played ball in New York.  If you go before I do, where would you like me to have you buried?” — Carmen Berra, Yogi’s wife.  “Surprise me.” – Yogi

25. “It ain’t over till it’s over.”

Now, don’t you feel better?  I do.