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.

Building off this blog headline, will the election end today, Tuesday?

The best answer is “no” as armies of attorneys on both sides are just waiting for the supposed outcome – either to defend the result if their candidate wins or to oppose it if their candidate loses.  Thus, beyond the voters, the result will end up in court.

For me, in all of this, there is a piece of good news.

With my wife, I was on the road for two days recently heading from our home in Salem, Oregon to our winter residence in La Quinta, California, so we missed much of the to’ing and  fro’ing in one of the last days before polls close.  Good.

Still, as a dedicated newspaper reader, given my background in journalism, I did read the New York Times to note the different messages both candidates – Kamala Harris for the Democrats and Donald Trump for the Republicans – are using to try to sway last-minute votes.

Here is how the Times characterized the difference:

• For Kamala Harris, her message has concentrated on the economy and gains during the last four years, of which there are several, even if some members of the public don’t want to notice.
• For Donald Trump, one theme dominates:  Fear.

More from the Times:

“…in the final days of the tightly drawn presidential campaign, the last messages to voters in the seven swing states that will decide the election continue to flood televisions, computers and smartphones.

“From Harris and her supporters, those messages cover a mix of kitchen-table issues on the economy and taxes, the fate of legal abortion, and the dangers posed by a return of Trump to the White House.”

“For Trump and his allies, one message dominates:  Defeating Harris is a matter of life and death.  Your death, to be specific.”

As for me and my wife, we already have voted, so we now will wait for the outcome on Tuesday or later. 

And, to illustrate my bias in favor of Harris, this from Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank:

“On the Ellipse, in the very spot from which Donald Trump dispatched a violent mob to the Capitol in 2021, tens of thousands of people, of all ages and colors, gathered in peace last Tuesday night, waving small American flags.  Thousands more stood on the slope leading up to the Washington Monument.

“Harris, protected by bulletproof glass on three sides and by snipers perched on top of a truck, made her last, best pitch for her candidacy.  The vice president spoke the words that define this moment.

“’Donald Trump has spent a decade trying to keep the American people divided and afraid of each other.  That is who he is,’ she said, with an index finger in the air.  ‘But, America, I am here tonight to say:  That is not who we are.’”

Harris is right and I hope America concurs.

And, finally, this summary caught my attention in the New York Times this morning.

“On ‘Real Time’ on Friday, Bill Maher made one last appeal to undecided voters, or as he called them, ‘the Christmas Eve shoppers of politics — they know the big day is coming, but they just can’t get themselves to do anything about it until the last minute.’

“’The phrase I hear so much that makes me just want to un-alive myself is, ‘How’s she going to help me?’  Like the president is your personal genie. It’s Kamala, not ‘Kazam.’”

Agreed.  I hope voters will vote for the country more than for themselves.