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.

If I were a Democrat, I’d be looking for ways to oppose Donald Trump and his ilk by trying to build relationships with all those – especially all Democrats, as well as some Republicans – who cannot stomach Trump.

The notion above is stupid because I am a registered Independent who wants this country, in politics, to get back to something other than Trump hucksterism.

Hill.com reports that Democrats may have found one way to get off the ground.  It is to capitalize on what has come to be called “Signal-Gate,” the process by which Trump’s so-called national security experts discussed war plans over an insecure group chat line. 

And, not only that – they unwittingly invited a journalist, Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg, to participate on the call.

[By the way, I have called this “Chat-Gate” in previous blogs, not “Signal-Gate,” but know this – either works, using the Watergate moniker, to call attention to something hugely stupid, if not criminal.]

It also is possible that today, given what Trump did to impose huge tariffs that are roiling all world economies, the Ds will have a new edge.  As tariffs increase prices and slam the stock market, give Trump all the credit – read, debit – he deserves.

Here is how hill.com started its story mentioned above:

“Democrats and their embattled Senate Leader Chuck Schumer have received a welcome change to rebound amid the controversy surrounding the Signal group chat that entangled a number of Trump Cabinet members over the past week.

“Signal-Gate, in which a journalist was inadvertently included in a Trump administration group chat that included sensitive information about a military strike against the Houthis in Yemen, effectively served as a reprieve for Schumer.

“Instead of being besieged by questions about Democrat divisions — and Schumer’s vote to advance a GOP funding bill — the week was dominated by queries of how The Atlantic’s editor in chief ended up getting invited by Trump’s national security adviser to a group chat that included Vice President Vance and other top officials.

“GOP senators were the ones fending off questions over why the Trump team, including officials traveling overseas, were discussing sensitive information on Signal, while Democrats were the ones going on offense.”

So, back to my question – what should Democrats do now to capitalize on their “good fortune,” if it could be called that?

Three thoughts.

• First, don’t let Signal-Gate or Chat-Gate die a merciful death.  Continue trying to hold Trump and Republicans responsible for this national security debacle, given the huge importance of this step that risked American military lives, as well as the U.S. standing in the world.  And, continue to do this as new evidence emerges that those who participated in Chat-Gate are also using routine e-mail structures to share information that should be kept secret.
• Second, find a way to be FOR something, not just AGAINST something.  [This was advice I gave to my lobby clients who often didn’t like proposals at the Capitol in Salem, Oregon, but I suggested that opposition wasn’t enough.  Advocacy in favor of proposals also was critical.]
• Third, don’t protest Trump, for all that does in infuse him with more instinct to go even farther.

Just wait him out.

It’s difficult to know how to engage in political discourse in regard to Trump.  He doesn’t play in the normal way, contending only for his point-of-view and never being willing to negotiate for smart solutions.

With him, it’s always his way or the highway.  And, if persons are hurt because of his actions, he doesn’t want to know, and he doesn’t care.  He always blames others.

So, at base, again I say wait him out in the hope – a realistic one, I think – that all the ways Trump and his ilk are setting out to hurt people will come home to roost, making him what he is, a pariah.