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.

In politics these days, often a great quote gets more play than a complicated issue paper.

That’s the way it is.  For me, as a retired lobbyist, no problem, though I also hope credentialled issue papers get a look.

In the past, I remember a few great quotes such as when President John F. Kennedy uttered his famous line, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”

Memorable.

Or, when military hero, the late Colin Powell, said he would not run for president because he “bemoaned the loss of civility in politics.”

So it was that in the recent Democrat National Convention, I heard such lines as these:

• Who’s going to tell him (Trump) that the job he is seeking is one of those Black jobs that he says always go to immigrants – From Michelle Obama

• She (Harris) understands that most of us will never be afforded the job of falling forward.  We will never benefit from the affirmative action of generational wealth. – Again, from Michelle Obama

• Regarding Trump, there’s the childish nicknames.  The crazy conspiracy theories.   The weird obsession with crowd size.  From Barack Obama

• Take it from me, an actual billionaire – Trump is rich only in stupidity. – From J.B. Pritzker, Illinois governor

• I saw him after the cameras were off – Trump always mocked his supporters.  – From Stephanie Grisham, former Trump press secretary

• Of all the issues that seemingly preoccupy the mind of Trump — his perceived persecutions, the evil of his enemies, the size of the rallies — there is one that may be the most consistent:  Other people’s looks.  – Unknown.

• The next time you hear him, don’t count the lies. — count the I’s.  From Bill Clinton

• Trump is just like an old boyfriend who just won’t go away. – From House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries

• So, there I was, a 40-something high school teacher with little kids, zero political experience and no money running in a deep red district. But you know what?  Never underestimate a public-school teacher. Never – From Vice President candidate Tim Walz

• We are a nation of patriots who serve when the mission is hard and who serve when the destination is uncertain – From Wes Moore, Maryland governor

• When a house is on fire, we don’t ask about the homeowner’s race or religion.  We don’t wonder who their partner is or how they voted.  No, we just try to do the best we can to save them.  And if the place happens to belong to a childless cat lady, well, we try to get that cat out, too.  From Oprah Winfrey

And, then, this conclusion, a quote from Harris, says it all:  “My entire career, I have had only one client, the people.  Donald Trump has had only one client, himself.”

Just think how these quotes, especially the last one, will rankle Donald Trump as he wonders why a Black women may have his number.