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.

Call me befuddled.

For two reasons.

• First, don’t you like the word.  Even the sound of it is welcome, giving a hint of what it means.

• Second, it relates to my status as I watch certain politicians – not all, but certain ones – practice the art of lying to advance their cause. 

Let me name them – Donald Trump and J.D. Vance.

Lying is their stock in trade.  They do naturally.

And what befuddles me [by the way, here’s the definition — make (someone) unable to think clearly] is that many Americans believe the lies.

Mark Twain may have it best with this quote:  “A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes.”

Regarding Trump, when The Washington Post Fact Checker team first started cataloguing his false or misleading claims, it recorded 492 suspect claims in the first 100 days of his presidency.  On November 2 alone, the day before the 2020 vote, Trump made 503 false or misleading claims as he barnstormed across the country in a desperate effort to win re-election.

Fact Checker reported this astonishing fact:  By the end of his term, Trump had accumulated 30,573 untruth — averaging about 21 erroneous claims a day.

So, as I pondered these facts again, I also read a long story in the Wall Street Journal.  To its credit, the newspaper sent three reporters to Springfield, Ohio to check out first-hand on Trump’s and Vance’s latest lie – that Haitian immigrants in Springfield were eating cats and dogs owned by residents in that city.

At the risk of a long blog today, I am reprinting the full Wall Street Journal story because it lays out in detail the Trump and Vance have fomented the issue for their own political gain.  It shows how a lie, an intentional one, almost becomes the truth, at least apparently in the minds of some who hear it often enough.

Pursuant to the Journal story, I formulated my own notions of why lying has a chance to work in some sectors of politics.

• If a disreputable politician tells a lie often enough, then it becomes almost like the truth.  As writer David French put it the other day, hearing something often enough produces gullibility.

• A lie mimics something you already tend to believe, no matter the truth or fiction of it, so you the believe the lie, too.

• A lie mimics the distrust you may feel toward government, even if that distrust if not fully earned by government.  You want to get back at government for what it has done to you, so the lie makes sense.

• A lie, if told by someone who then follows up with a plea to fight, then that also mimics instincts of those who want to fight rather than talk.

• A lie underlines the notion that compromise is a dirty word.  For those who eschew compromise, the only solution is to give them what they want every time at all costs.

The Journal summarized things this way:  “Lying is really an economy.  Politicians lie because they think it pays off.”

Here is the Wall Street Journal article.

*********

HOW THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN RAN WITH RUMORS ABOUT PET-EATING MIGRANTS—AFTER BEING TOLD THEY WEREN’T TRUE

Springfield, Ohio, city officials were contacted by D. J. Vance’s vice presidential team and said the claims were baseless.  It didn’t matter and now the town is in chaos.

By Kris Maher, Valerie Bauerlein, and Tawnell D. Hobbs

September 18, 2024 12:01 am ET

In an instant, the everyday struggles of a typical American city grappling with an influx of immigrants were transformed into a bombshell political message laser targeted at voters distressed by immigration.

It was the culmination of a spectacular collision of forces that thrust Springfield into the heart of the U.S. presidential election. Over the summer, outside neo-Nazi groups—which specialize in exploiting local controversy to foment outrage about migrants—had seized on a local controversy and fanned the narrative of pet-eating Haitians.

Then the Trump campaign blasted those rumors to the world—and kept pushing them even after they were exposed as lies. The Trump campaign continues to run hard at the controversy.

Trump last Friday said he planned “large deportations” from Springfield—whose Haitian community is overwhelmingly in the country legally. Trump campaign surrogate Vivek Ramaswamy plans to host a town hall in Springfield this Thursday. Vance said on Tuesday that Trump would like to visit Springfield, too, at some point. 

Attempts to contain the damage in Springfield were quickly overwhelmed despite city leaders’ racing from meeting to meeting trying to stem the tide. The Ohio state police were called in to protect local children as they returned to school. A security tower with cameras was erected outside City Hall.

Thirty-six bomb threats had been logged as of Tuesday evening.

“It induces panic and fear and depletes resources,” said Heck, the city manager. “We’re living the danger that misinformation and created stories leads to.”

“We have told those at the national level that they are speaking these things that are untrue,” added Springfield Mayor Rob Rue, a registered Republican. But he said claims have been “repeated and doubled down on.” 

Vance insisted on CNN this past Sunday that he had firsthand accounts of the incidents from constituents, but the media had paid no attention to migrant problems in American cities “until Donald Trump and I started talking about cat memes.” He added, “If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that’s what I’m going to do.”

Ripe for exploitation

Springfield was a community that had all the ingredients to be exploited in a close, fiercely fought national election.

It’s in the middle of the middle of the U.S., with a name so generically American it was used in the classic sitcoms “Father Knows Best” and “The Simpsons.”

The town sprung up along the Old National Road, the first highway built by the federal government. From the beginning, it was a place of immigrants: first the Irish, who traveled the road westward in the early 1800s, then the Germans, who founded the town’s flagship Wittenberg University in the 1840s, and eventually a wave of Black Americans fleeing the South in the mid-20th century. 

This recent wave of Haitian immigrants was initially welcomed. The town’s fortunes had declined alongside those of the rest of the Rust Belt, with the population dropping from 83,000 in 1960 to 59,000 in 2020.

The pandemic created a crunch in the available labor force as many workers stayed home out of choice or necessity, collecting stimulus checks. 

Haitians were fleeing danger in their increasingly lawless country, particularly after the assassination of their president in 2021.

In Springfield, they were welcomed by evangelical groups and employers alike. Friends and family members followed loved ones there. 

Springfield

Estimates of the number of immigrants vary, but Republican Governor Mike DeWine said Monday that roughly 15,000 Haitians immigrated to Springfield over the past four years. They were able to immigrate legally under a Biden administration policy granting Temporary Protected Status to Haitians as part of a program created by Congress in 1990 to protect immigrants from countries deemed too dangerous to return to.

The local economy boomed. Business owners said they were grateful to have workers eager to work long shifts and do what it took to meet production goals. New subdivisions sprung up in the cornfields outside town. New restaurants opened. The Haitian flag flew at City Hall. 

Growth came with growing pains. The number of non-native English speakers in the public schools quadrupled to more than 1,000 children. The local clinic and hospital were overwhelmed with people fleeing a country where healthcare had been scant. Traffic increased, as did frustration with drivers more accustomed with the chaotic streets of Port-au-Prince than the orderly grid of Springfield.

Then tragedy struck at the start of school in 2023. A minivan driven by a Haitian immigrant crashed into a school bus, injuring 20 children and killing Aiden Clark, who was thrown from a window. The man didn’t have a driver’s license that was valid in the U.S.

Aiden was memorialized in an obituary as a kid who loved gardening with his father, snuggling with his mother and playing with his siblings, and overall was “one of the most awesome and exceptional 11-year-olds in existence.”

His death brought out conflict about immigration. City commission meetings once dominated by zoning petitions became extended public comment sessions on immigration. Suspicions grew about who might be benefiting from the migrant wave.

After one city commission meeting, an evangelical pastor named Carl Ruby, who ran an “immigrant integration” not-for-profit organization, sought out a local GOP leader who had criticized him online. Ruby said he shook the hand of Mark Sanders, who had become a leading critic in town of the influx of immigrants—and wouldn’t let go until he agreed to meet. 

They met and drank coffee at Panera for an hour and a half.

Ruby offered to share tax documents for his organization that would dispel rumors he was getting rich from his non-profit. He also said he didn’t own rental properties or benefit from a local employment agency that has employed Haitians, as had been rumored.

Sanders, who has likened Ruby to a “coyote” who makes money from helping people cross into the U.S. illegally, agreed to take down some of his online posts but the two men haven’t spoken since. 

“I think he believed me, but I don’t think it fits his narrative,” Ruby said. He’s not interested in another get-together. “Logic and truth just don’t matter at this point to that group.” 

Sanders, a retired engineer, had started working as a school bus driver to comfort his daughter, who had been scared to get back on the bus after Aiden Clark’s death. He said he would be open to another meeting because he believes he can show ways that the Haitians have hurt the city. “I can show you the detriments,” he said. “Show me the benefits.” 

White supremacists arrive

Springfield’s growing tensions caught the attention of outside hate groups, seeking division to exploit.

White supremacist groups have been active in towns across the U.S. this summer, inserting themselves into hot-button debates over immigration, Gaza and gay rights, according to the Anti-Defamation League. These groups rallied in places like Tallahassee, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Nashville, at times calling for deportation of immigrants. 

On August 10, a group wearing ski masks and carrying swastika flags and rifles marched in Springfield. The ADL identified them as Blood Tribe, which it describes as a growing neo-Nazi group claiming to have chapters across the U.S. and Canada.

On August 27, during the routine public-comment portion of the Springfield City Commission meeting, a man identifying himself as a Blood Tribe member said: “I’ve come to bring a word of warning. Stop what you’re doing before it’s too late. Crime and savagery will only increase with every Haitian you bring in.”

Rue, the mayor, interrupted him, saying “You sound threatening to me,” and asking police to peacefully remove him.

And recently, roughly 20 individuals claiming to represent the Proud Boys marched in the town. 

Springfield NAACP President Denise Williams said residents are on edge from visits by the groups. “I’m saying to our people near and far to please stand down and don’t approach these guys—they are armed,” she said. “It’s quite dangerous.” 

It goes national

Much of this had gone on without the rest of the U.S. noticing. That was about to change.

The cat-eating rumors, started with a post by a Springfield woman on a private Facebook page, turned out to be third-hand and were subsequently disavowed by the original poster, according to NewsGuard, a company that tracks online misinformation.

After Vance’s tweets on the morning of September 10, Springfield Mayor Rue called a press conference that afternoon to try to contain the damage.

He also was faced that evening with the pain that Vance’s tweet was causing locally.

Along with promoting the pet-eating rumor, Vance’s post had said a Springfield “child was murdered by a Haitian migrant who had no right to be here.”

That night, Nathan Clark — the father of Aiden, the boy who had been killed in the bus crash — spoke during the public-comment portion of the Springfield City Commission meeting. Visibly shaking, he referenced GOP politicians, including Vance, and said they had used his son’s death “for political gain.”

“I wish that my son Aiden Clark was killed by a 60-year-old white man,” he said. “I bet you never thought anyone would ever say something so blunt.” 

Hours later, Trump uttered the line that launched countless memes. He was called on it in the moment, when ABC debate moderator David Muir said his outlet had checked with Springfield’s city manager and found there were no credible reports of pets being harmed by immigrants.

Trump responded that the city manager would be expected to say that, but he’d seen people saying the opposite on TV.  

“It is depressing as a fact checker,” said Bill Adair, founder of the fact-checking website PolitiFact and a professor at Duke University. “We like to think that fact-checks will stop elected officials and candidates from repeating false claims or at least persuade people that these false claims have no truth to them.” 

But, he noted, “lying is really an economy. Politicians lie because they think it pays off.”

The fallout

The morning after the debate, parents in Springfield kept their children home en masse. Several schools, City Hall and the state motor vehicle offices in Springfield were forced to evacuate after receiving bomb threats. The city canceled its two-day CultureFest celebrating diversity, arts and culture “in light of recent threats and safety concerns.”

Blood Tribe took a victory lap for its presence in the town, boasting on September 11, “We are on the ground in Springfield weekly—we even showed up to their City Council Meeting.” 

Vance, meanwhile, has continued to defend his claims.

A Vance spokesperson on Tuesday provided The Wall Street Journal with a police report in which a resident had claimed her pet might have been taken by Haitian neighbors. But when a reporter went to Anna Kilgore’s house Tuesday evening, she said her cat Miss Sassy, which went missing in late August, had actually returned a few days later—found safe in her own basement. 

Kilgore, wearing a Trump shirt and hat, said she apologized to her Haitian neighbors with the help of her daughter and a mobile-phone translation app.

Vance has also added to his claims about Haitians, saying on social media that communicable diseases have been on the rise in Springfield because of the Haitian migration. 

Information from the county health department, however, shows a decrease in infectious disease cases countywide, with 1,370 reported in 2023—the lowest since 2015. The tuberculosis case numbers in the county are so low (four in 2023, three in 2022, one in 2021) that any little movement can bring a big percentage jump. HIV cases did increase to 31 in 2023, from 17 in 2022 and 12 in 2021. Overall, sexually transmitted infection cases decreased to 965 in 2023, the lowest since 2015.

On Monday, Rue and DeWine appeared together on the heels of a roundtable at which other Ohio mayors appeared in solidarity with Springfield.

The governor said some of the bomb threats were clearly meant to sow division, and originated from a foreign country he didn’t name. DeWine also said he has great affinity for the people of Haiti, which he has visited at least 25 times, most commonly in support of a school for poor children named after his late daughter Becky DeWine, who died in a car crash at age 22.

In recent days, many in Springfield have gone out of their way to show support for their Haitian neighbors, including by frequenting Haitian-run restaurants. Still, the local Haitian community is on edge. 

Stanley Thelusma, 24, who arrived in Springfield in July from Haiti, sought a peaceful spot at Snyder Park on Tuesday afternoon, studying a biology textbook on his iPad while people played pickleball and kids ran through a splash park nearby.

He wasn’t far from a pond where Haitians had been rumored to have taken some of the park’s geese and slaughtered them, a rumor the state wildlife division found no basis for. Similarly, the mayor said the sheriff had checked 11 months of 911 calls and found no evidence of animal abuse among the Haitian community.

Thelusma said he had hoped to continue his medical studies in Port-au-Prince but that he and his parents decided to come to Springfield because of the threat of gang violence. Now he is in a nursing degree program part-time at Clark State College and works four days a week as a forklift driver at an Amazon facility 30 minutes away, earning $19.50 an hour.

“I don’t know why people are talking about immigrants eating cats, some pets,” he said. “It’s totally false.” 

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 you are involved or interested in politics – even from the cheap seats out West where I live – you can answer the question in this blog headline.

The answer:  Both.

But, for me, character matters first and, if character is sound, perhaps not perfect, but sound, then substance matters more.  If character is missing or derelict, then substance hardly matters.

As for the presidential election this time around, it is not hard for me to support Kamala Harris based on one word – character.

Her character is sound and her opponent, Donald Trump, is far from sound, even perhaps mentally ill as he aggrandizes himself and criticizes everybody else.  Everybody else!

Washington Post political analyst Dan Balz, one of the most experienced hands with such a job, put it this way recently:

“Former president Trump has long inhabited a bizarre world of his own creation.  He re-writes history — or makes it up entirely — to aggrandize himself, denigrate others, and spread the basest of lies.”

Back to the point about Harris and policy.

Writing in the New York Times, Brent Stephens said this:

“It should not be hard for Harris to demonstrate that she can give detailed answers to urgent policy questions.  Or to express a sense, beyond a few canned phrases, of how she sees the American interest in a darkening world.

“Or to articulate a politics of genuine inclusion that reaches out to tens of millions of distrustful voters.  Or to prove that she’s more than another factory-settings liberal Democrat whose greatest virtue, like her greatest fault, is that she won’t step too far from the conventional wisdom.”

For my part, Stephens, at least in this column, goes too far.

He wants Harris to articulate specific policy positions which, if she does, would not redound necessarily to her credit politically.

That’s because she is opposing Trump, the darkest character in American politics, though perhaps his surrogate vice president candidate, J.D. Vance, comes close.  Who knows what Trump’s policies are, except that he hates anyone who doesn’t salute him?

The fact is that Harris has laid a number of policies she favors –strengthening the economy and reducing consumer prices, a heavy emphasis on reproductive rights and abortion, and what she would do in the face of international crises, including wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.

Meanwhile, as I tried to figure out the mind of American voters the other day – a tough and lonely task — I wrote a series of questions for myself, then answered them.

Here they are.

Would you vote for a person who had been convicted of rape?

Answer:  No.

Would you vote for a person who had been found guilty of crimes for paying hush money to a porn star – in other words, for a convicted felon?

Answer:  No.

Would you vote for person who sequestered sensitive, confidential documents from the White House and left them to be looked at by anyone at his resort in Florida?

Answer:  No.

Would you vote for someone who called a mob into play after he lost an election, then did not urge them to stand down as they assaulted the U.S. Capitol, including injuring police officers – in other words, someone guilty of sedition?

Answer:  No.

Would you vote for someone who has promised to release everyone convicted of a crime at the U.S. Capitol as these soon-to-felons worked to overthrow a fair election?

Answer:  No.

Would you vote for someone who denigrated military service, then wants to function as Commander in Chief?

Answer:  No.

Would you vote for someone who criticized military war hero John McCain “because McCain was captured?”

Answer:  No.

Would you vote for someone who said he would deport nearly all immigrants in the U.S.?

Answer:  No.

Would you vote for someone who wallows in a false report that immigrants eat dogs and cats when they arrive in U.S. cities?

Answer:  No.

Need this go any farther?

Answer:  No.

In terms of character, this question-answer is all anyone needs to know about the uncouth man who wants to be president again.

So, give room for Harris, in the closing weeks of the campaign, to articulate views on issues facing the American presidency, but, also, don’t lose sight of Trump’s huge character failings that ought to bar him from running.

And, recognize Harris’ strengths of character that ought to make her president.

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.

Most of my friends know that, for some unknown reason, I like golf rules.

Perhaps because I want the challenge to understand rules that, based on how they are written by the United States Golf Association (USGA) and the R & A in Europe, often don’t make much sense.

Another arcane golf rule bubbled up the other day on the course where I play, Illahe Hills Golf and Country Club in Salem, Oregon.  It arose in a tournament for junior golfers.

Also, I suppose all golf rules are arcane, so perhaps it’s redundant to use that word as a way to describe the mystery of the rules.

Without much else to do in retirement, I researched the golf rules issue by heading toward the official rules publication, aided and abetted by Mr. Google.

The issue:  Is it ever possible to tee up your golf ball on consecutive shots?

Well, the answer doesn’t lend itself to a simple “yes” or “no.”  Of course, it is more complicated.

Here is what Mr. Google said.

“Good news for golfers who might (literally) struggle to get off the tee. Thanks to the USGA, we recently learned of a little-known rule in which you can tee up your ball on consecutive shots.

“Sound crazy?

“Just wait.

“In a video recently posted on the USGA’s Instagram, the governing body broke down the situation in which this scenario might come into play.

“For starters, to use this rule you need to top the ball.  Or sky it.  Or basically just hit it so poorly it doesn’t leave the ‘teeing area.’

“But you can make up for a bad swing by flexing your Rules of Golf knowledge and telling your buddies you can tee it up again for your second shot.

“Here’s how that works.

“First, you have to figure out if the swing counts.  If it was actually intended to be a practice swing — something we’ve seen a few times from none other than former U.S. Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson — then you can simply tee it up and hit it again with no penalty.

“But, if you tried to hit the ball, then it counts. From the spot where the ball landed, even on the teeing ground, you are now hitting your second shot.

“But here’s the good news!

If the ball is still in the “tee box” — which is defined as the small box between the two tee markers and measuring two club-lengths back — then a player can pick it up and move it to anywhere within that teeing area.

“And, the kicker?  You can even tee it up for that second shot.”

The key here is the phrase “tee box.”  To repeat what’s above, that is the area between the two tee markers and measuring two club-lengths back.

The ball you just tried to hit cannot JUST be in the entire teeing area.  It has to be in the “tee box.”

If you think about it for only a second or two, it is almost impossible for this to happen.  Hit a tee shot, even poorly, and it ends up behind you a pace or two!

Not likely.

But, as this episode indicates, when you play golf, if you set your mind to it, you can learn something nearly every time.

And, this was true for me a couple days ago.

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.

Not much surprise here, I guess.

After a second assassination attempt, Donald Trump tried to capitalize on it for political gain.  His own.

And, of course, he blamed President Joe Biden, Vice President and presidential candidate Kamala Harris, and anyone else he think of, if thinking is what he actually does.

Tom Nichols, writing in The Atlantic magazine, put it this way:

“Every American has the right to participate in public life without violence, and that includes Donald Trump.

“Personally, I think he probably belongs in jail, but that is a matter for the justice system.  I also think he is easily the worst president in American history and one of the very worst people in our national life.  But my feelings have no bearing on his rights or his safety.

“He is an American, and I want him to be treated fairly in court.  He is my fellow citizen, and I want him to walk our streets without being in danger.  He is a candidate for public office in the United States, and I want our government to ensure his safety — I am willing to be taxed to pay for his security.” 

My views, exactly.

Nichols continues:

“If only Trump and his homunculus, J. D. Vance, cared as much about the safety of others as so many others care about theirs.”

As an aside, there was a new word for me in what Nichols wrote – homunculus.  I looked it up and it means “a very small human.”

Again, exactly.

Vance is bringing down misery on his own constituents in Ohio, using hatred against immigrants to set neighbors against one another, a conflict that has led to the closure of schools and the lockdown of two hospitals.

All for the supposed political benefit to him as he runs for vice president.  He has admitted that he “created” the story – that was the word he used, created – to generate media coverage pursuant to the false comment that immigrants are eating cats and dogs.  It was not and is not true.

More Nichols:

“Vance is a product of a working-class town, but, in reality, he is an utterly synthetic politician, a power-seeking drone who will do almost anything to further his political fortunes.  In this case, he is casting the innocent people of Springfield, Ohio, in his own obscene little drama about migrant savages roaming the streets of the heartland trying to sink their teeth into Fluffy and Fido.

“Sure, it’s a pack of lies, but it’s all for the greater good, you see, of advancing the career of the Hillbilly Senator.

“Trump, meanwhile, is turning the violence against him into fuel for more political hatred.  In July, a young man — a loner with no obvious political agenda — tried to kill Trump in Pennsylvania, and almost did.  And now another man is under arrest for a possible assassination attempt after being discovered near Trump’s golf course, apparently lying in wait for the former president.

“Once again, the suspect seems to be something of a weird loner who said on X that he voted for Trump in 2016, but in subsequent elections, according to federal campaign-finance records, began donating to Democrats.  

One might hope that these brushes with death would bring Trump a moment of reflection and, perhaps, even something like grace.  But if Trump were capable of such a response, he wouldn’t be the man he is.”

Trump is blaming two possible attempts to kill him on pretty much anyone who isn’t an open partisan on his side, and, as I wrote above, that includes Biden, Harris, and millions of other Americans.

Nichols concludes:

“Self-awareness is not part of Trump’s personality:  He is complaining about overheated rhetoric while constantly spewing such rhetoric himself.

We are a better country, and a better people, than Trump, and every good American citizen should insist on his protection and his safety.  But he and Vance seem unable to insist on ours — a fundamental duty of elected officials — and this makes them unfit to hold any American public office.”

Again, exactly.

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.

As I write this, the Oregon Golf Association’s (OGA) final tournament of the season for golfers between 8 and 18 has just concluded in Salem, Oregon.

It was held at “my” home course, Illahe Hills Golf and Country Club, which, to its credit, agreed to host the event for the fourth year in a row.

Why?

In a phrase, “to support the future of golf!”

I say that as a 75-year-old golfer who is past his prime, if he had ever had a prime in the first place.

So, it’s good to see young players take up the game.

Everything went off without a hitch yesterday at Illahe.

That included the work of eight Illahe members who agreed to volunteer as “walking scorers” for the youngest players, those 8-9 and 10-11 years-of-age.  They play 9 holes as they to learn the game, whether they go on to play in high school or college or just love fold for rest of their lives.

One focus is to help players learn how to keep score in the only sport where players keep their own score.  Tournament scorecards are used and players serve as a “marker” for another player in their group, plus they record their own score.

Then, after each hole, they confirm the score with the walking scorer.  And, at the scoring table at the end of their 9-hole round, they sign the scorecard – the same process that occurs in tournaments for older players – as soon as they confirm that all 9 hole-by-hole scores are correct.

A good process, which in the case yesterday, relies on the good work of eight walking scorer volunteers.

When all is said and done, the main benefit of yesterday’s experience:  Young players represent the future of the game of golf and it is worth investing in their continued success.

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.

On this Sunday, normally a “day of rest,” I cannot help myself but to write more about Donald Trump. 

He is such a buffoon – other words also may apply – that it is not possible for me to ignore him on this or any other day.

As I reported in advance of the presidential debate, I said I was not going to watch it, preferring to review quality newspaper reports afterwards.

So, based on reporting in the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and the New York Times, I thought Kamala Harris scored a huge victory.  One analyst called it a “rout.”

Of course, Donald Trump thought otherwise because, as a narcissist, he can’t tolerate the thought of losing.

I can – and I hope losing for him relates, not just to the debate, but also to the coming election.

A debate win for Harris won’t mean that it, alone, will dictate the outcome, but it was a solid next step toward victory.

Even as I convey these notions, I also was struck by what Atlantic Magazine columnist, Tom Nichols, wrote recently

Here is how he started his column:

“I find it exhausting to have to point out that Donald Trump has — yet again — threatened to engage in violent and dictatorial behavior, and that — yet again — the collective reaction by some in America seems to be a numb acceptance that this is just who Trump is.

“…Trump’s goal is to exhaust people who care about democracy:  That’s why he regularly inundates the nation with his rancid word salads.  His screeds are aimed at making us all so tired that when he actually attempts to carry out these schemes, we’ll hardly have the energy to notice. 

“Oh, he’s ordering Homeland Security to arrest people in unconstitutional dragnets? Yeah, I’ve been hearing stuff about that for a long time.”

Here is part of what Nichols reports that Trump posted at his personal “rantatorium,” Truth Social:

“CEASE & DESIST: I, together with many Attorneys and Legal Scholars, am watching the Sanctity of the 2024 Presidential Election very closely because I know, better than most, the rampant Cheating and Skullduggery that has taken place by the Democrats in the 2020 Presidential Election.

“It was a Disgrace to our Nation! Therefore, the 2024 Election, where Votes have just started being cast, will be under the closest professional scrutiny and, WHEN I WIN, those people that CHEATED will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law, which will include long term prison sentences so that this Depravity of Justice does not happen again.”

First, I avoid mentioning the inappropriate capitalization, as well as the sorry syntax.

But, as Nichols points out, “This post is the 45th president of the United States putting in writing that he must win, and that after he wins, he will mobilize the machinery of government against his opponents because there was clearly fraud anyway.

“I will just note that I refuse to believe that Trump really coughed up a word like skulduggery on his own.  Spelling it incorrectly does point to him, but the likelihood that someone else is writing these posts is a reminder that Trump is surrounded by people who have no objections to his plans and will willingly carry them out.

“Some of this was drowned out by Trump’s other deranged statements last week. Just before he issued his Stalinist threats, he dropped a piece of pure weapons-grade nuttery about kids getting gender-changing surgery during a normal school day in America.

“;Can you imagine you’re a parent,’ he said at a rally in Wisconsin on Saturday, ‘and your son leaves the house and you say, ‘Jimmy, I love you so much. Go have a good day in school’ and your son comes back with a brutal operation.  Can you even imagine this?  What the hell is wrong with our country?”

Nichols says “you cannot imagine it because it’s never happened.  Any parent knows that most schools completely plotz if they even have to give a kid some ibuprofen, but on Planet Trump, school nurses can apparently do surgery in the office.

“At the same rally, Trump threatened to round up undocumented immigrants en masse and admitted it would be ‘bloody story.’

“To recap:  In one day, Trump threatened the use of mass government violence inside the United States, asserted that kids are getting secret medical procedures at schools, and promised to lock up his political opponents.”

Now, all of this does not even take into account the incredibly – not to mention dishonest – claim by Trump during the debate the immigrants in Ohio are “eating cats and dogs.”

Enough.

Just send Trump to the trash bin where he belongs and elect Harris.

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.

Lock ‘em up vs. education.

That’s one of the political realities behind what I heard for the first time a few days ago in a post from KGW-TV.

Here’s the headline.

The director of the Oregon Department of Corrections is asking the Legislature to fund a study of a building new major state, maximum security prison.

The current prison, called “The Big House” lies in Salem, Oregon and, to put a point on it, it is very told.

So, the director of the state agency, Mike Reese, a former City of Portland police chief as well as a former Multnomah County sheriff, is calling for a new state prison.  At least a study he wants a full-fledged study of the possibility of building one.

Here is what he told KGW in a story the TV station carried under this headline:  “Inside the Oregon Department of Corrections’ push to build a new state penitentiary.”

“DOC Director Reese says the state prison is aging and ‘oppressive.’

“So, he and leaders at the Oregon Department of Corrections are pushing for a new state prison, asking lawmakers to add it to the top of their priority list and study how much it would cost to repair or replace the maximum-security facility in Salem.”

It the study moves forward, it might cost much.  But, building a new prison.  It would cost millions and take years to construct.

And the cost would re-shape the state’s budget planning for its criminal justice system.

Reese contends the Penitentiary is deteriorating and it no longer makes sense to bankroll repairs.

“We do that work (meaning prison repairs) and then what breaks next?”
he told KGW.   “This institution has a vibe to it that makes it challenging to talk about rehabilitation and restoration of people’s humanity and dignity.”

The risk of Reese’s advocacy?

EVERY dollar in state prisons is a “general fund tax dollar,” so funding a new prison inevitably will take money from other general fund priorities, such as K-12 schools, social services, and higher education.

I’ll go back to allocations in 2023.

A total of $27.86 billion was in the “general fund,” which includes all the taxes individuals and companies pay the state each year.  “Lottery funds “– $1.5 billion – comes from state-sanctioned gambling.  Almost $40.44 billion aroses from federal funding, which includes money sent to Oregon for programs such as Medicaid, education, and housing.

The biggest chunk of the 2021-23 budget — $51.4 billion – came from so-called “other funds,” which includes money state agencies gather by charging for services or licensing — for example, the fee that doctors pay to maintain a medical license, or the fee that many people pay to get a driver’s license.

Back many years ago when I worked in the Oregon Department of Human Resources, the agency included the Corrections Division.  Then, there were three state prisons – the “big house,” the Correctional Institution out on Highway 22 a bit east of Salem, and the Women’s Prison, a small facility located near the big house.

In 1994, Oregonians approved a measure at the ballot by a large margin – 66 per cent.  It established sentencing guidelines which translated into a “lock ‘em up” strategy.

It clearly was politically popular, so the prison building boom started.

Today, there are 14 state prisons, all funded by “general fund dollars.”  No federal money.  No money from inmates.

The Reese-request, however warranted it may be given the age of the big house, will continue making it tough to balance all state general fund needs.

Which means I would not want to sit in positions occupied by the Oregon House and Senate co-chairs of the Joint Ways and Means Committee (which in Oregon, refers to the budget, not taxes.)    

There are no easy decisions ahead.

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.

I find myself wondering every day about how otherwise reasonable Americans can fall for – and even wallow in — the depths of Donald Trump’s tripe.

This includes some of my good friends.

Of course, it’s a subject – politics these days – that I often avoid like the plague with many of my friends…not all, but many.  It’s not worth it to risk friendships.

Still, I wonder, why Trump.

New York Times writer David French helped me by trying to answer the question in a column the other day that appeared under this headline: 

“MAGA Will Fall for Anything.”

Here are excerpts of what he wrote:

“It was the strangest thing I’ve ever seen during a presidential debate, and I’m exactly the kind of nerd who has watched every general election debate since I was 11 years old.

“A few minutes into the contest, Kamala Harris interrupted her remarks to mock Donald Trump’s rallies.  She invited viewers to attend one, made fun of Trump’s meandering and self-absorbed speeches and then said, ‘People start leaving his rallies early out of exhaustion and boredom.’

“She was baiting him, and he fell for it.  He responded with a barrage of conspiracy theories and misinformation that culminated in a bizarre rant about immigrants and pets in Ohio.  ‘In Springfield,’ Trump said, ‘They’re eating the dogs.  The people that came in, they’re eating the cats.  They’re eating the pets of the people that live there.’”

In that moment, French wrote, Trump amplified a strange claim that had spread through the on-line right over the days before.  

“It’s hard to trace the origin of a rumor, he said, “but it blew up with a September 6 post from a prominent right-wing account called End Wokeness, which claimed that ‘Springfield is a small town in Ohio.  Four years ago, they had 60k residents.  Under Harris and Biden, 20,000 Haitian immigrants were shipped to the town.  Now ducks and pets are disappearing.’”

Stupid stuff.  Untrue.  Right wing fables from those who hate immigrants.

Then, French launches into the “why.”

“But I’m actually less interested in debunking each individual hoax than in answering some questions.  Why is MAGA still so gullible?  Why didn’t Republicans learn anything from 2020, when they fell for some of the strangest conspiracy theories I’ve ever heard about?

“In the days after January 6, 2021, I argued that years of extreme right-wing rhetoric had made millions of ordinary voters vulnerable to the wildest of ideas.  If you watch right-wing television — or if you listen to right-wing radio — you will hear the most vicious insults against Democrats and the media over and over.  

“It’s a constant drumbeat of inflammatory rhetoric: ‘They’ hate America.  ‘They’ hate Christians.  ‘They’ will destroy our country.

“And few populations have been more thoroughly demonized during the age of Trump than immigrants.  From the opening speech of his first campaign (when he said immigrants are ‘bringing drugs.  They’re bringing crime.  They’re rapists.  And some, I assume, are good people’), Trump has been painting a lurid and terrifying picture of the immigrant threat.

“Hear this long enough, and it seeps into your bones.  You begin to develop a level of antipathy and distrust so profound that you are capable of believing just about anything about your opponents.  After all, if Democrats are ‘demoncrats,’ what won’t they do to attain power?  

“If the immigrant community is full of rapists and drug dealers, how hard is it to imagine that they might kill and eat cats and dogs, never mind ducks?”

Another way of putting it, French adds, “is that animosity fuels gullibility. If you like or respect someone, you’re immediately skeptical of negative claims, and the more outlandish the claim, the more skeptical you’ll be.  But if you loathe a person or a population, in a perverse way you become more receptive to the worst stories.  After all, they’re the ones that vindicate your hatred the most.

“The problem, then, isn’t just with right-wing villainization, it’s with who the right elevates as its champions.  Every movement elevates heroes and leaders, but in the age of Trump, the right’s heroes are created almost entirely through pugilism and confrontation, not through inspiration or elevation.

“It’s easy to roll your eyes at the idea that politics should be elevated (or when people start talking about elevation and inspiration), but this is the consequence when inspiration isn’t even an option.  The first rule of the right is simple:  You must fight.  In their minds, McCain didn’t fight, so he lost.  Romney didn’t fight, so he lost.  Trump fought, so he won.”

There, the guts of why certain people support Trump.  Two main factors:

• Those who support Trump hate those who don’t.  As French wrote, “their animosity fuels gullibility.”

• Those who support Trump would rather fight than deal with the realities of a real, imperfect world.

This doesn’t explain everything, but it comes close.

Then, in conclusion, I add two quotes, one from Charles Sykes in the Atlantic and another from Dana Milbank in the Washington Post:

Sykes writes, “Trump must be aware on some level that, on debate night, tens of millions of voters watched a bitter, confused, and diminished elderly man fall apart in front of their eyes.

“At his rallies, Trump can get away with his signature lies and tantrums of grievance — and with not saying much at all about actual policy plans.  In his softball interviews with fawning right-wing hosts, he can ramble and lie without fear of being challenged.

“At the presidential debate, though, it didn’t work.  So, he has decided to blame everybody but himself.”

Milbank writes, “Sixty-seven million viewers saw an out-of-control Trump claim he won the 2020 election, complain that those who attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021, were “treated so badly,” argue about his crowd size, assert that he had read that Harris “was not Black” and that Biden “hates her,” admit that he still only has “concepts of a plan” on health care, make odd statements such as “I got involved with the Taliban” and “she wants to do transgender operations on illegal aliens that are in prison,” and utter this ludicrous slander about Haitian migrants: “They’re eating the dogs, the people that came in. They’re eating the cats. They’re eating — they’re eating the pets of the people that live there.”

My fond wish is that the MAGA crowd would see Trump for what he really is, which is a dangerous buffoon, if not worse, eager to advance himself over America.

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 headline in this blog arises on the basis of comments in three newspaper columns after the debate, one Kamala Harris won and Donald Trump lost.

Tell Trump that he lost and he’ll fume again as he did when Harris laid various traps for him in the debate and he bit every time.

The consensus is that she won in a rout.

I’ll devote my blog today to reprinting a column from Frank Bruni, who was on staff at the New York Times for 25 years and now contributes columns on a frequent basis.  He is an excellent writer who pillories Trump, but also suggests where Harris needs to improve.

Quotes from the three columns appear below, one from Jennifer Rubin in the Washington Post, one from Frank Bruni in the New York Times, and one from Karl Rove in the Wall Street Journal.

*********

FROM FRANK BRUNI:  In Kamala Harris’s big general-election debate four years ago, she faced off against an opponent with a fly on his head.

In her immeasurably bigger debate on Tuesday night, she confronted an opponent with bats inside his.

And out they came, flapping and screeching, when he brought up cats and dogs.

He was talking about what he couldn’t stop talking about — the millions of migrants who, he insisted, were depraved criminals being dumped on us by cackling foreign leaders — and in his indiscriminate zest to describe an American hellscape, he repeated debunked stories that in Springfield, Ohio, these desperate newcomers were noshing on Fido and Whiskers.

“They’re eating the dogs. The people that came in — they’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of the people that live there,” he sputtered, red-faced. Harris didn’t even have to correct him, because David Muir, one of the two ABC News anchors moderating the debate, got there first and did it for her.

Some dark fantasies need immediate dispelling.  And some deranged fantasists need to be tugged back into reality before they wander so far from it that there’s no returning.

Trump made a raving, rambling fool of himself on Tuesday night, and while Harris by no means did everything right, she had the good sense to alternately call him out on that and simply watch him unravel.  She had the discipline to shake her head sadly and smile dismissively when he made laughably false accusations against her.  She had the skill — here, on full display, was the prosecutor in her — to needle him into maximal seething.

FROM JENNIFER RUBIN:  Vice President Kamala Harris demonstrated in Tuesday night’s presidential debate, in case any rational person had doubts, that she is the only decent, prepared and fit candidate in the presidential race.  In both her answers and demeanor, she demonstrated the unmistakable contrast between a mature, responsible adult and someone who resembles the mean, crazy relative no one wants to sit next to at the holiday table.

When ABC News’s debate moderators, Linsey Davis and David Muir, opened the proceedings, she came out swinging, rattling off a list of her domestic proposals.  She plainly had her ducks in a row, attacking Donald Trump for the largest trade deficit in history, for selling microchips to China and even for praising Chinese President Xi Jinping for his handling of the coronavirus.

Trump was clearly rattled, resorting to lies about everything from his economic record to abortion.

Throughout, Harris remained calm and collected, not bothering to rebut every lie, and instead hitting Trump on the main issues — his favoritism toward the rich, his contempt for democracy and his weakness on national security.

FROM KARL ROVE:  Tuesday’s debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump was a train wreck for him, far worse than anything Team Trump could have imagined.

Harris was often on offense, leaving Trump visibly rattled as she launched rocket after rocket at him.  A New York Times analysis found she spent 46 per dent of her time on the attack while Trump devoted 29 per cent of his time to going after her. Debates aren’t won on defense.

Harris pressed Trump on the economy, the Ukraine war, foreign policy, healthcare, the January 6 attack and especially abortion, leaving him flustered and often incoherent.  In return, he criticized her on border security, climate change and the Israel-Hamas war.

Trump had to know the vice president would try to get him to lose his cool.  She did.  She went after him on his multiple indictments.  She called him “weak” and belittled him as a six-time bankrupt, spoiled inheritor of wealth.  She said his former national security adviser thought him, in her words, “dangerous and unfit” for the Oval Office.

As is frequently the case with Trump, he let his emotions get the better of him.  He took the bait almost every time she put it on the hook, offering a pained smile as she did.  Rather than dismissing her attacks and launching his strongest counterarguments against her, Trump got furious.

MY CONCLUSION:  These commentators have a point.  Harris won the debate.

But the prevailing question is whether, even if true, will it matter?

It is hard to tell whether the debate win will motivate undecided voters to Harris’ way.  Perhaps yes, as indicated by various letters to the editor published since the debate.

But, Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Harris could mean much more than any debate result. 

For one thing, it was reported that, after Swift’s endorsement, “likes”on her feed rose by around two millions.  Plus, news of the endorsement drove almost 340,000 visitors to Vote.gov, a government website that directs users to state-specific voting information. 

That came on top of Swift’s please-register-to-vote missive on her website in 2023 that produced 1,226 per cent traffic boost in the hour after the post ran.

Any political figure, Harris included, would relish such results.  No doubt she is today.

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 headline in this blog arises on the basis of comments in three newspaper columns after the debate, one Kamala Harris won and Donald Trump lost.

Tell Trump that he lost and he’ll fume again as he did when Harris laid various traps for him in the debate and he bit every time.

The consensus is that she won in a rout.

I’ll devote my blog today to reprinting a column from Frank Bruni, who was on staff at the New York Times for 25 years and now contributes columns on a frequent basis.  He is an excellent writer who pillories Trump, but also suggests where Harris needs to improve.

Quotes from the three columns appear below, one from Jennifer Rubin in the Washington Post, one from Frank Bruni in the New York Times, and one from Karl Rove in the Wall Street Journal.

*********

FROM FRANK BRUNI:  In Kamala Harris’s big general-election debate four years ago, she faced off against an opponent with a fly on his head.

In her immeasurably bigger debate on Tuesday night, she confronted an opponent with bats inside his.

And out they came, flapping and screeching, when he brought up cats and dogs.

He was talking about what he couldn’t stop talking about — the millions of migrants who, he insisted, were depraved criminals being dumped on us by cackling foreign leaders — and in his indiscriminate zest to describe an American hellscape, he repeated debunked stories that in Springfield, Ohio, these desperate newcomers were noshing on Fido and Whiskers.

“They’re eating the dogs. The people that came in — they’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of the people that live there,” he sputtered, red-faced. Harris didn’t even have to correct him, because David Muir, one of the two ABC News anchors moderating the debate, got there first and did it for her.

Some dark fantasies need immediate dispelling.  And some deranged fantasists need to be tugged back into reality before they wander so far from it that there’s no returning.

Trump made a raving, rambling fool of himself on Tuesday night, and while Harris by no means did everything right, she had the good sense to alternately call him out on that and simply watch him unravel.  She had the discipline to shake her head sadly and smile dismissively when he made laughably false accusations against her.  She had the skill — here, on full display, was the prosecutor in her — to needle him into maximal seething.

FROM JENNIFER RUBIN:  Vice President Kamala Harris demonstrated in Tuesday night’s presidential debate, in case any rational person had doubts, that she is the only decent, prepared and fit candidate in the presidential race.  In both her answers and demeanor, she demonstrated the unmistakable contrast between a mature, responsible adult and someone who resembles the mean, crazy relative no one wants to sit next to at the holiday table.

When ABC News’s debate moderators, Linsey Davis and David Muir, opened the proceedings, she came out swinging, rattling off a list of her domestic proposals.  She plainly had her ducks in a row, attacking Donald Trump for the largest trade deficit in history, for selling microchips to China and even for praising Chinese President Xi Jinping for his handling of the coronavirus.

Trump was clearly rattled, resorting to lies about everything from his economic record to abortion.

Throughout, Harris remained calm and collected, not bothering to rebut every lie, and instead hitting Trump on the main issues — his favoritism toward the rich, his contempt for democracy and his weakness on national security.

FROM KARL ROVE:  Tuesday’s debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump was a train wreck for him, far worse than anything Team Trump could have imagined.

Harris was often on offense, leaving Trump visibly rattled as she launched rocket after rocket at him.  A New York Times analysis found she spent 46 per dent of her time on the attack while Trump devoted 29 per cent of his time to going after her. Debates aren’t won on defense.

Harris pressed Trump on the economy, the Ukraine war, foreign policy, healthcare, the January 6 attack and especially abortion, leaving him flustered and often incoherent.  In return, he criticized her on border security, climate change and the Israel-Hamas war.

Trump had to know the vice president would try to get him to lose his cool.  She did.  She went after him on his multiple indictments.  She called him “weak” and belittled him as a six-time bankrupt, spoiled inheritor of wealth.  She said his former national security adviser thought him, in her words, “dangerous and unfit” for the Oval Office.

As is frequently the case with Trump, he let his emotions get the better of him.  He took the bait almost every time she put it on the hook, offering a pained smile as she did.  Rather than dismissing her attacks and launching his strongest counterarguments against her, Trump got furious.

MY CONCLUSION:  These commentators have a point.  Harris won the debate.

But the prevailing question is whether, even if true, will it matter?

It is hard to tell whether the debate win will motivate undecided voters to Harris’ way.  Perhaps yes, as indicated by various letters to the editor published since the debate.

But, Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Harris could mean much more than any debate result. 

For one thing, it was reported that, after Swift’s endorsement, “likes”on her feed rose by around two millions.  Plus, news of the endorsement drove almost 340,000 visitors to Vote.gov, a government website that directs users to state-specific voting information. 

That came on top of Swift’s please-register-to-vote missive on her website in 2023 that produced 1,226 per cent traffic boost in the hour after the post ran.

Any political figure, Harris included, would relish such results.  No doubt she is today.