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.