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.

Washington Post writers performed a public service last week by preparing a story that appeared under the headline I used for this blog.

It went beneath the normal “race-horse” approach to detail some of the issues that may be involved in the presidential race match-up between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.

The Post editors added this subhead:

“The candidates, their movements, and their rallies embody two very different identities, setting up a stark contrast for voters.”

You bet.

It would be hard to find a stronger contrast than Harris vs. Trump. 

• Harris focuses on the future of “our country.” 
• Trump focuses on the past. 
• Harris appeals to all segments of society. 
• Trump appeals to White males.

Further, as I write this, Democrats got a boost from Day 2 of the National Convention.  It was provided mostly by the Obamas, Barack and Michelle, as they accomplished two objectives:  (1) They endorsed Harris (one of the best lines is in the next paragraph, and (2) they skewered Trump.

The best line uttered by Michelle:  She wondered if Trump knew that what he called “the Black jobs” he said were going to immigrants could actually go to Harris as she took the Oval Office.

Standing ovations at the DNC.

Here is a quick excerpt from what the two writers, Hannah Knowles and Dylan Wells, prepared for the Post on the generational divide issue:

“Donald Trump walks onstage to the 1984 Lee Greenwood song “God Bless the USA,” cheered on by a roaring crowd that skews older and White.  “We will make America great again!” he promises.

“Kamala Harris walks out to Beyoncé’s 2016 hit “Freedom” and leans into internet memes — addressing more racially diverse audiences dotted with chartreuse shirts and pins that pay homage to a 2024 pop album called “Brat.”

More from the Post:

“The split screen reflects two presidential campaigns that embody two very different cultural, generational and social identities, setting up a stark contrast for voters.  

“The divide is clearer than ever since President Joe Biden quit the race — upending a campaign that had long featured two White men born in the 1940s and allowing a younger, multi-racial woman to take his place.

“Now the candidates, their rallies and their movements are showcasing two sides of America split by demographics and cultural touchstones, not just party and policy.

“Trump’s grievance-fueled movement is full of nostalgia for past generations and his own term in office — and fear and anger about how undocumented immigration and secularization are changing the country, interviews with many supporters show.”

A quick summary:

• At rallies, Trump offers apocalyptic warnings about the southern border, promises to crack down on ‘transgender insanity,’ re-litigates his 2020 election loss, belittles his critics, and vows retribution on his perceived enemies, making many false and baseless claims in his lengthy speeches.
• Harris, meanwhile, is drawing new energy from young voters and people of color who say they worry that Trump will take America backward to a place where women, people of color, LGBTQ+ Americans and others face more challenges.  She delivers tightly scripted speeches that prompt her crowds to boo at Trump, but that also strike sunny tones, such as pointing toward ‘the future.’

One pollster, Celinda Lake, told the Post that, “Now, people clearly see Harris as change — demographically, stylistically, culturally, age, gender, just in every way.”

Trump, meanwhile, is seeking to brand Harris as more of the same from Biden and trying to convince voters they were better off during his time in the White House.

More from the Post:  “The divides between the two candidates’ supporters reflect long-standing differences in race, geography, religion, education and more. Republicans’ support base in the Trump era skews White, working-class, male, rural and evangelical.  Democrats’ support skews college-educated and urban and draws more on women, young people and voters of color, especially Black Americans.  Political analysts have talked for years about Republican-leaning “Cracker Barrel voters” versus Democratic-leaning “Whole Foods voters.”

Regarding Harris:

“Now Trump, 78, and Harris, 59, personify the contrast in striking ways.

“Harris was born in the 1960s on the cusp of Gen X, and her campaign has leaned into the jokes and references of Gen Z. When singer Charli XCX declared the day that Biden dropped out that “ kamala ISbrat” — delighting TikTok users and baffling the older and less-online — Harris’s team immediately embraced the term, which has come to mean something like messy but bold.  The campaign began to use the font and Shrek green of Charli XCX’s album cover.

Regarding Trump:

Trump supporters queue early up for his events in shirts like “God, Guns and Trump” and “Jesus Is My Savior, Trump Is My President.” Some camp out all day with folding chairs. As they finally filter inside, the speakers blast classics such as “Rocket Man” (1972), “I Will Survive” (1978), “Dancing Queen” (1976) and “Memory” from the musical “Cats” (1981).

As they wait for the main show, there are teaser videos of Trump (“We will expel the warmongers!”), patriotic rituals and dire warnings about where the country is headed if Trump is not elected.  There’s always a Christian prayer.

Which, I add, is duplicitous because Trump doesn’t appear to know a thing about real Christians.

So, as this campaign plays out for the next 75 days or so, watch for the contrasts between the two – generational contrasts.

And, as two old people, my wife and I, choose Harris, we are hoping others will join.