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.

What I feared would happen has now happened.

We have elected an authoritarian leader as U.S. president and that bodes ill for all of us in America.

If Donald Trump intends to be Trump, which is the mark of an egotist, then we are in trouble.

If he chooses to lead America more wisely that he has done in the past or more carefully than he alleged he would do on the campaign trail, then things won’t be as bad as I fear they might be.

Here is what five commentators say about the current status with Trump heading back to the White House:

From Ruth Marcus in the Washington Post:  “I don’t think this (election result) was about Trump prosecutions and Trump as victim as a significant factor.  

“Maybe, but I suspect this was more about voters’ anger and unhappiness about their own situations, and about their own perceptions of themselves as victims, including of an elite that disdains them, than it is about Trump himself.  

“We are an angry and divided country.  A country where too many people are willing to blame immigrants for all sorts of woes.  A country that is furious about prices that are not still rising at unacceptable rates but that are too high.  A country where too many people somehow find this strongman with his authoritarian impulses attractive as a leader.  A country where — and I think we have to consider this as well — too many people are not able to countenance the notion of a Black woman as president.”

From New York Times editorial writers:  “American voters have made the choice to return Donald Trump to the White House, setting the nation on a precarious course that no one can fully foresee.

“The founders of this country recognized the possibility that voters might someday elect an authoritarian leader and wrote safeguards into the Constitution, including powers granted to two other branches of government designed to be a check on a president who would bend and break laws to serve his own ends.

“And they enacted a set of rights — most crucially the First Amendment — for citizens to assemble, speak and protest against the words and actions of their leader.

“Over the next four years, Americans must be cleareyed about the threat to the nation and its laws that will come from its 47th president and be prepared to exercise their rights in defense of the country and the people, laws, institutions and values that have kept it strong.

“It can’t be ignored that millions of Americans voted for a candidate even some of his closest supporters acknowledge to be deeply flawed — convinced that he was more likely to change and fix what they regarded as the nation’s urgent problems:  High prices, an infusion of immigrants, a porous southern border, and economic policies that have flowed unequally through society.”

From Tom Nichols in Atlantic Magazine:  “An aspiring fascist is the president-elect, again, of the United States.  This is our political reality: Donald Trump is going to bring a claque of opportunists and kooks (led by the vice president–elect, a person who once compared Trump to Hitler) into government this winter, and even if senescence overtakes the president-elect, Trump’s minions will continue his assault on democracy, the rule of law, and the Constitution.

“The urge to cast blame will be overwhelming, because there is so much of it to go around.  When the history of this dark moment is written, those responsible will include not only Trump voters, but also easily gulled Americans who didn’t vote or who voted for independent or third-party candidates because of their own selfish peeves.

“Trump’s opponents will also blame Russia and other malign powers.  Without a doubt, America’s enemies — some of whom dearly hoped for a Trump win — made efforts to flood the public square with propaganda.  According to federal and state government reports, several bomb threats that appeared to originate from Russian email domains were aimed at areas with minority voters.

“But as always, the power to stop Trump rested with American voters at the ballot box, and blaming others is a pointless exercise.”

From Niall Stanage in hill.com:  “The comeback is remarkable for a host of reasons.  The 45th president’s political career seemed to be over after he sought to overturn his 2020 election defeat and spurred his supporters to march on the Capitol, an event that led to a riot and the evacuation of Congress.

“Before that event, Trump became the first president ever to be twice impeached; was charged in four separate criminal cases; was found liable for sexual abuse in a civil case; and was convicted in criminal court of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.

“But Trump was buoyed up by a fervently loyal support base — most of whom believe his narrative that he has been unfairly victimized by a corrupt political, legal, and media establishment.”

From Karl Rove in the Wall Street Journal:  “President-elect Trump achieved his victory by assembling a new coalition.  He added to the GOP’s traditional base working-class noncollege voters of all races; young voters, especially young men; the biggest share of the Hispanic vote since at least 2004; and the largest black percentage for Republicans in decades.

“He expanded his majorities in rural counties and small towns while building his numbers in cities and suburbs.  His percentage of the vote ballooned in blue states like New York, New Jersey and Illinois.

Early Wednesday morning Trump promised:  “Every citizen, I will fight for you, for your family and your future.”  He pledged “with every breath in my body, I will not rest until we have delivered the strong, safe and prosperous America that our children deserve.”

This is the moment when both victors and the defeated traditionally set aside the election’s acrimony and, even if briefly, give the incoming president a chance to start fresh.  Trump is the only president America will have come January.

“We should all wish him godspeed and pray for wisdom in his efforts. Our nation’s success is once again tied to him.:

From me, whatever we may think, I say it is time to move on and hope that (a) Trump does not succeed in his bid to change America for the worse, and (b) that the checks and balances system that our forefathers installed will work.

To which I add that my focus will continue to be on what I wrote yesterday, which is to rely on the Bible as a prism through which to view the election – and to focus on such passages as Psalm 10, which assure that God is still in charge, no matter what happens on earth.

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.

Along with many others, I am processing results of the election today – an election that is more final than I thought it would be – and didn’t go the way I voted.

First, why did the presidential candidate I favored, Kamala Harris, lose?

Well, it’s too soon to deliver the full diagnosis, but Ruth Marcus, writing in the Washington Post this morning, produced what I view as solid analysis:

“I don’t think this was about Trump prosecutions and Trump as victim.  Maybe, but I suspect this was more about voters’ anger and unhappiness about their own situations, and about their own perceptions of themselves as victims, including of an elite that disdains them, than it is about Trump himself.

“We are an angry and divided country.  A country where too many people are willing to blame immigrants for all sorts of woes.  A country that is furious about prices that are not still rising at unacceptable rates but that are too high.  A country where too many people somehow find this strongman with his authoritarian impulses attractive as a leader.  A country where — and I think we have to consider this as well — too many people are not able to countenance the notion of a Black woman as president.”

But beyond commentators like Marcus or my personal perceptions, one of the best ways for me to process this or any other election is to look at the Bible.  That’s because I am a Christian.

For a Christian, the Bible provides a prism through which we should view life, as well as election results.

First, the definition of the word “prism,” which most of us do not use very often. 

It means this:  “Used figuratively with reference to the clarification afforded by a particular viewpoint.”  In other words, look through a prism and see something real on the other side.

In this case, prism clarifies how Christians can view this election.

Further, my wife pointed out a great Psalm – Psalm 10 – yesterday, which helps in this regard.  So, I read it a few times.

Here are the words, which can stand on their own:

Psalm 10

Why, Lord, do you stand far off?
    Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?

In his arrogance, the wicked man hunts down the weak,
    who are caught in the schemes he devises.
He boasts about the cravings of his heart;
    he blesses the greedy and reviles the Lord.
In his pride, the wicked man does not seek him;
    in all his thoughts there is no room for God.
His ways are always prosperous;
    your laws are rejected byhim;
    he sneers at all his enemies.
He says to himself, “Nothing will ever shake me.”
    He swears, “No one will ever do me harm.”

His mouth is full of lies and threats;
    trouble and evil are under his tongue.
He lies in wait near the villages;
    from ambush he murders the innocent.
His eyes watch in secret for his victims;
like a lion in cover he lies in wait.
He lies in wait to catch the helpless;
    he catches the helpless and drags them off in his net.
His victims are crushed, they collapse;
    they fall under his strength.
He says to himself, “God will never notice;
    he covers his face and never sees.”

Arise, Lord! Lift up your hand, O God.
    Do not forget the helpless.
Why does the wicked man revile God?
    Why does he say to himself,
    “He won’t call me to account”?
But you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted;
    you consider their grief and take it in hand.
The victims commit themselves to you;
    you are the helper of the fatherless.
Break the arm of the wicked man;
    call the evildoer to account for his wickedness
    that would not otherwise be found out.

The Lord is King for ever and ever;
    the nations will perish from his land.
You, Lord, hear the desire of the afflicted;
    you encourage them, and you listen to their cry,
defending the fatherless and the oppressed,
    so that mere earthly mortals
    will never again strike terror.

As important as elections are in our democracy, it is critical to remember this salient fact:  Whatever happens inside or outside of elections, God is still in charge.

And I take solace in that reality.

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.

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 Atlantic Magazine, back in early October, went where the Washington Post would not go:  Endorsing a candidate for president.

The choice:  No surprise.  Kamala Harris.

Here is how the Atlantic started its endorsement editorial:

“For the third time in eight years, Americans have to decide whether they want Donald Trump to be their president.  No voter could be ignorant by now of who he is.  Opinions about Trump aren’t just hardened—they’re dried out and exhausted.

“The man’s character has been in our faces for so long, blatant and unchanging, that it kills the possibility of new thoughts, which explains the strange mix of boredom and dread in our politics.

“Whenever Trump senses any waning of public attention, he’ll call his opponent a disgusting name, or dishonor the memory of fallen soldiers, or threaten to overturn the election if he loses, or vow to rule like a dictator if he wins.  He knows that nothing he says is likely to change anyone’s views.”

So it was that The Atlantic viewed Trump as unqualified to be president.  It added more background:

“Of all Trump’s insults, cruelties, abuses of power, corrupt dealings, and crimes, the event that proved the essential rightness of the endorsements of Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden [The Atlantic made those endorsements.] took place on January 6, 2021, when Trump became the first American president to try to overturn an election and prevent the peaceful transfer of power.

“This year, Trump is even more vicious and erratic than in the past, and the ideas of his closest advisers are more extreme. Trump has made clear that he would use a second term to consolidate unprecedented power in his own hands, punishing adversaries, and pursuing a far-right agenda that most Americans don’t want.”

Then, The Atlantic turned to its endorsement of Harris.

“About the candidate we are endorsing:  The Atlantic is a heterodox place, staffed by freethinkers, and for some of us, Kamala Harris’s policy views are too centrist, while for others they’re too liberal.  The process that led to her nomination was flawed, and she’s been cagey in keeping the public and press from getting to know her as well as they should.

“But we know a few things for sure.  Having devoted her life to public service, Harris respects the law and the Constitution.  She believes in the freedom, equality, and dignity of all Americans.  She’s untainted by corruption, let alone a felony record or a history of sexual assault.  She doesn’t embarrass her compatriots with her language and behavior, or pit them against one another.

“She doesn’t curry favor with dictators.  She won’t abuse the power of the highest office in order to keep it.  She believes in democracy.  These, and not any specific policy positions, are the reasons The Atlantic is endorsing her.”

The Atlantic concludes with this sentence.

“Electing Harris and defeating Trump is the only way to release us from the political nightmare in which we’re trapped and bring us to the next phase of the American experiment.

“Trump is the sphinx who stands in the way of America entering a more hopeful future.  In Greek mythology, the sphinx killed every traveler who failed to answer her riddle, until Oedipus finally solved it, causing the monster’s demise.  The answer to Trump lies in every American’s hands. Then he needs only to go away.”

Kudos to The Atlantic for endorsing in the presidential election – and for endorsing Harris.

It did what the Washington Post would not do and the action – read, inaction – has translated so far into a loss of 250,000 on-line subscriptions.  And more holders are leaving every day.

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.

With only a few days left to go in the current presidential election, it is time to pay attention to the closing arguments from both candidates.

• From Kamala Harris:  No surprise:  Equality for all Americans and she wants the focus of tHE presidency to be on “delivering for everyday Americans.”

Dana Milbank in the Washington Post, quoting Harris, adds this:  “Donald Trump has spent a decade trying to keep the American people divided and afraid of each other.  That is who he is.  But, America, I am here tonight to say:  That is not who we are.”  So, he supports Harris.

• From Donald Trump:  No surprise:  Vulgarity.  He has become coarser, and somehow managed to become even cruder in recent days.

Regarding Trump, here’s the way The Atlantic put it: 

“This is the time for closing arguments from Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.  But Trump’s closing argument is not a closing argument at all:  It’s an invitation.  He and his campaign are acting in hopes of provoking Harris, pushing her to muddle her final message.

“The statements and sentiments on display from the Trump campaign this past week, and particularly at Sunday night’s rally at Madison Square Garden, have been racist, xenophobic, and violent.  To note a few:  The comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, invited by the Trump campaign, called Puerto Rico a ‘floating island of garbage.’

“This incendiary language is not only a crude attempt to bait critics; it’s part of a pattern of hate from Trump and his closest allies, and a type of rhetoric that Trump has made clear he intends to incorporate into his plans as president.

“But in continuing to push the lines of decency in American politics, Trump is also attempting to goad the opposition.  His campaign is ramping up a familiar and often effective cycle:  He says or encourages something inflammatory, then goes on to blame his opponents or members of the media for overreacting, sometimes attempting to rewrite his own statements in the process.”

By contrast,  Harris delivered her closing argument on Tuesday, arguing that, as president, she would focus on delivering for everyday Americans while he – Trump — would fixate on exacting revenge.

“A week before the end of the most turbulent and closely fought campaign in recent memory, Harris appeared on the Ellipse, surrounded by Washington’s iconic monuments to democracy, and tore into her Republican rival as un-American.  She cast him as a ‘petty tyrant’ and called him ‘unstable,’ ‘obsessed with revenge,’ ‘consumed with grievance’ and ‘out for unchecked power.’

“Donald Trump has spent a decade trying to keep the American people divided and afraid of each other.  That’s who he is.  But America, I am here tonight to say:  That’s not who we are.”

Regarding Trump’s vulgarity, the Washington Post wrote this:

“Democracy depends on many things:  Institutions, traditions, public legitimacy and, yes, a culture of civility.  The peaceful transfer of power requires people to have at least a minimum degree of trust in their fellow citizens — that the stakes are not existential.

“In this regard, former president Trump showed, in his closing argument at a raucous rally at Madison Square Garden, that, whether he wins or loses on November 5, he has already done severe damage to American politics by coarsening and corroding public discourse.”

In all of this, I recall one of the best public policy quotes from the past, one uttered by the late military general Colin Powell, when, some years ago, he declined to run for president.

He said then – and I agree now – that he wouldn’t run because he “bemoaned the loss of civility in politics.”

No doubt Powell would say the same today.

So, pay attention to closing statements from Trump and Harris, compare the two, and then vote for the one who advocates civility – Harris.