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.

Rather than just focusing on the trials and tribulations of Donald Trump, the worst president in U.S. history, I like to think about who might succeed him in the Oval Office.

Of course, that’s more than two years away, an eternity in politics.  Plus, those of us who oppose Trump also contemplate that he may want to stay in office even after he is barred from doing so.  Legal bars rarely stop him.

So it was that one of my former partners in business, Gary Conkling, wrote a blog the other day under this title:  My Way-Too-Early Prexy Pick: Mayor Pete.

The subhead also was good:  From Trump Trash Talk to Pragmatic Straight Talk.

Conkling and I met in college where both of us established a relationship that continued into professional service and, in retirement, to this day.

So I choose here to reprint Conkling’s blog in total.  He makes a good case for Pete Buttigieg as a candidate for president.

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Nobody asked or perhaps cares, but my early choice for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination is Pete Buttigieg, better known as Mayor Pete.

My reason is simple: He speaks clearly and directly, reflecting thoughtful points of view. He isn’t a shrinking violet on issues, but doesn’t spout venom when he speaks. He is reasonable and well-spoken in a time of chaos and corruption. He would be a welcome change in voice, personality and intelligence.

A ‘We’ Guy, Not a ‘Me’ Guy
Reasonable and less self-assuming may not be enough for others to support Buttigieg. But I like him because he comes across as a “we” guy, unlike Trump who is a “me” guy.

Some may view Buttigieg’s political vita as thin – a middle-sized city mayor and U.S. secretary of transportation. As we’ve learned, being President is less about your previous jobs and how you would handle the job of leader of the free world. Buttigieg weighs options, does his homework and articulates his views, skills painfully missing from the current Oval Office occupant.

Naysayers question whether Americans will vote for an openly gay man as president. I would describe him as a family man who has been married for eight years and is a parent to fraternal twins. He is married to a schoolteacher, writer and political activist. A devout member of the Episcopal Church, Buttigieg and his family regularly attend church.

Buttigieg served as an intelligence officer in the U.S. Naval Reserve after enlisting in 2007. In 2014, he took an unpaid leave from his job as mayor of South Bend to deploy to Afghanistan for seven months where he worked on disrupting insurgent financing networks. He also commanded 90 convoys in non-secure territory.

His Family Tree
Buttigieg came by his well-spoken intelligence from his parents, who were both faculty members at the University of Notre Dame. His father was an English professor; his mother taught linguistics. You can imagine the Buttigiegs sitting around the dinner table carrying on engaging conversations about serious subjects.

Buttigieg says his parents emphasized promoting justice and well-being for others. His mother taught him to make sure people feel seen, a lesson Buttigieg says he has used to navigate public criticism and handle conflict. He said he formed the view from his parents that “ideas matter at least as much as the direct exercise of power.”

When he refers to people, including political adversaries, he doesn’t resort to adjectives like “crooked,” “sleazebag,” “loser” and “low IQ.” He doesn’t inject profanity into his speech. He doesn’t post manically on social media after midnight. He doesn’t generate AI images of himself as Jesus or the Pope.

A Pragmatic Progressive
I would classify Buttigieg as a pragmatic progressive. A good example is his support for Medicare For All Who Want It, a new public health insurance option as an alternative to private health insurance. He defends the Affordable Care Act and supports negotiating to lower prescription drug prices. 

As the former head of the Department of Transportation, Buttigieg supports federal investments in infrastructure, supply chains and workforce development. He backs ambitious emission-reduction targets, federal subsidies for renewable energy and the goals of the Paris climate accord

As an alternative to current policy, he favors comprehensive immigration reform, giving immigrants already here a path to citizenship and providing increased resources for asylum seekers.

Buttigieg supports traditional international alliances and global collaboration. He doesn’t support open-ended military conflicts without congressional authorization. While he supports Israel, he also favors a two-state solution for Palestinians and has criticized Israeli settlements on the West Bank.

Buttigieg believes healthcare decisions, including abortion, should be left to patients and their doctors.

He has advocated for eliminating the Electoral College, ending partisan gerrymandering and limiting corporate money in politics.

Buttigieg in the Political Mainstream
No one would call Buttigieg conservative or confuse his views with those of Bernie Sanders or AOC. His views stand in stark contrast with the current administration, which may put Buttigieg in the political mainstream approaching the 2028 presidential election.

What sets Buttigieg apart from other potential Democratic hopefuls is his ability to speak clearly and thoughtfully, without name-calling, hyperbole or pretension. He is a politician capable of talking to people, not shouting at them or communicating by midnight social media posts.

Daniel Meegan, a psychology professor, attributes Buttigieg’s articulate expression to “effective framing,” which means he is good at describing complex ideas in ways people can understand.

Buttigieg “seems to understand conservative morality way better than most liberals,” Meegan says. “More impressively, he talks about liberal ideals using conservative language.”

There is no better example of Buttigieg’s framing than his response to conservatives about being gay: “If you have a problem with who I am, your problem is not with me. Your quarrel, sir, is with my creator.” He says his marriage moved him “closer to God.” Quite a contrast from someone who peddles Bibles with his name on them.

Long Way Until Election Day
A lot can happen between now and 2028. Democrats will see familiar faces and some new ones who test the waters. Republicans will be doing the same since Trump is barred from seeking a third term.

My hunch and hope is that Americans will listen to someone who can talk to them and be straight on their priorities if elected. No candidate is perfect. However, Buttigieg may be the perfect antidote to Trump and Trump-speak.

A Reminder
In case anyone needs a reminder why Mayor Pete is needed, here’s what Trump posted on his social media platform regarding the final episode of The Late Show starring Stephen Colbert: “No talent, no ratings, no life. He was like a dead person. You could take any person off of the street and they would be better than this total jerk.”

The Late Show was the top-rated late-night TV show averaging 2.4 million viewers per night when it was canceled by CBS. Colbert received an Emmy for the show last year. In his finale, Colbert never mentioned Trump by name.

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 heard the term “The Longest Day,” you might think logically of the movie chronicling the D-Day invasion, the “Longest Day” for those who served on that horrific day in 1941.

A few years ago, I had the chance to visit the D-Day site in France and it was, to say the least, a sobering experience.

So, that day is more worthy of memories than another “longest day” – the day in golf where pro and amateur players around the country compete in 36-hole rounds to try to qualify for the United State Golf Association (USGA) U.S. Open set later this month at a venerable location, Shinnecock Golf Club in New York.

Here is how the USGA describes this “longest day” in golf:

“Ten sites across North America – nine in the United States and one in Canada – hosted Golf’s Longest Day on Monday, June 8.  A total of 679 golfers competed for 43 spots and a tee time at the 126th U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club.”

I had the distinction of being a starter at one of the sites – Emerald Valley Golf Club in Creswell, Oregon – where about 80 players were competing for two spots into the Open.  It was an all-day job for me, I volunteered for it, and was glad I did.

It turned out that it was THE longest day of golf’s longest day.

That’s because after one player, Grayson Leach, earned the top spot by shooting a four-under, 36-hole round, two players shot 3-under rounds, so had to playoff for the last spot.

The two were:

• Spencer Tibbits, a former Oregon State University golfer, who now lives and works in Vancouver, Washington.
• Andrew Putnam, who has some status on the PGA Tour, and now lives in University Place, Washington.

It turned out they played six more holes on the first day, June 8, tying all of them.  Then, they returned the next morning to play three more holes before Putnam won the second spot, making Tibbets the first alternate.

For me, there were two impressions as the 10^th tee starter.

First, I appreciated the chance to help golfers go off on their rounds, even as the weather – Oregon rain – produced a challenge for all of them.

Second, it was a bit intimidating to see how far golfers hit their tee balls on that 10^th.  Farther than I could have done, for sure.

But, you see, I call myself a “recreational” golfer.  Always have.  Not one oriented to competitions.

Golf is still fun for me.

It should be, too, for Grayson Leach and Andrew Putnam, as they tee it up at Shinnecock in another week after their “longest 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.

Here are the words behind this blog headline:

I don’t know what my future holds, but I do know who holds my future.

For me, words to live by.

They indicate two realities for me.

• The first is that, as a human being, I don’t know about the future.  None of us do.  We live day-by-day, not knowing what may happen on that day or any other.

• The second is that, as a Christian, I know I am in God’s hands every day.  He holds my future, whatever it turns out to be.

To this, I add my favorite verses of Scripture, if it is possible to have favorites with so many good ones in the 66 books of the Bible:

II Corinthians 12:8-10: 

“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’  Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.  That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.  For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 

Think about that promise for just a few moments.  God can be strong at the very point of our weakness, just as He was for the Apostle Paul when he wrote those verses in his second letter to the Corinthians.

So, again, my premise:  I don’t know what my future holds, but I do know who holds my future.

The same can be true for all who choose to claim God’s promise.

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.

When we know a Member of Congress has practiced well the art of middle-of-the-road politics – a lost art today – we should generate compliments for that member.

Columnist George Will did just that a couple days ago when he profiled retired Tennessee U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander.

I do, too.

Rather than just oppose over-the-top politics, we ought to commend those who play the game well.

Under this headline – “A welcome break from today’s repulsive, glue-factory politics” – Wills wrote this:  “Lamar Alexander’s new memoir of life in the Senate reveals a craftsman of politics and conservatism.”

Kudos to Alexander and Wills for providing an example of good politics during a time when see the exact reverse as Congress and the president fight with each other every day as if the goal is always winning rather than developing solid policy.

Here is how Wills started his column:

“In the mid-1940s, 4-year-old Lamar Alexander climbed a tree, fretted that he could not climb down, and called for his mother to help.  This was before the noun ‘parent’ became a verb, and before advanced thinkers decided that parenting is a science, or an art, or both.  So, his mother simply told him, ‘You got yourself up there, you can get yourself down.’ He did.

“He graduated from his free-range Tennessee childhood with a stock of gumption that propelled him through a public life spanning almost a quarter of the nation’s life, working with 10 presidents.  His career’s astonishing breadth began in 1963 as a staff member in Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy’s Justice Department.  Alexander, now 85, was a White House aide to President Richard Nixon, two-term governor of Tennessee, president of the University of Tennessee, education secretary under President George H.W. Bush, and a three-term U.S. senator.”

Alexander’s memoir, “The Education of a Senator:  From JFK to Trump,” tells the story of many achievements and a few disappointments, including two times when Alexander failed to win Republican presidential nominations.

With attribution to Wills, here are a few highlights about Alexander.

• Alexander’s “graceful but unembellished prose suits his penchant for understatement.” 
• The placidity of Alexander’s memoir is disturbed only by his immoderate dislike of the adjective “moderate” when applied to him.  He always detested the label because it could have implied he had a lazy streak.
• Alexander illustrated a key point in politics, at least in the past:  A functioning legislature includes negotiation and compromise.  They are inescapable.  Principles must be moderated to accommodate the inconvenient existence of others elected espousing different philosophies.
• Politics is neither a science nor an art.  It is a craft like carpentry. The dignity of a craft derives from the fact that it is acquired only through many years of repetitions.  Hence patience is a conservative virtue. Faux conservatives who proclaim on the Senate floor their principled refusal to compromise often achieve their only intended result:  Cable television and social media resonance.

More from Wills:

“Alexander’s political craftsmanship was honed during almost six decades of a public career whose diversity of offices filled is perhaps unmatched in American history.  Of the 2,019 people who have been senators, few earned as much respect as Alexander, and like Ted Williams, he homered in this last at bat.

“Near the end of his Senate tenure, he and two other senators met in the White House Roosevelt Room to try to persuade the mercurial president [guess who…yes, Donald Trump] to pressure some of his Senate acolytes to support a major bill, the Great American Outdoors Act.  Pointing to a portrait of Theodore Roosevelt, one of Alexander’s colleagues said to Trump:  ‘If you support and sign this law, you’ll be the greatest conservationist president since Teddy Roosevelt.’

“Trump leaned back, folded his arms, and looked into space.  ‘Wouldn’t you say ever?’ Trump asked.”

As for today, in retirement, Alexander is currently on a media and book tour promoting his memoir.  Plus, he is actively participating in interviews to discuss his six decades in public life and his experiences working with all of those 10 different presidents.

These days, we need more Alexanders.

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 ask the question in this blog headline for a variety of reasons, but the main one can be described in just one word:  Technology.

Google says this:

“Technology is deeply integrated into daily life.  Today, there are more active mobile connections than there are people on Earth.  Driven by smartphones and the Internet of Things, global connectivity has re-shaped everything from how we communicate and to how we access education, healthcare, and financial services.”

Just imagine where we would be without it.  Some bad.  Some good.

For me, I try to avoid falling too far into the technology abyss, so:

• I am a dedicated e-mail user.  I remember when this ability first emerged.  I was a lobbyist at the Capitol in Salem, Oregon, and it made my professional life much easier, not to mention quicker.

• I am still adjusting to today’s major communication method:  Texting.  Younger persons in my life use this a lot and I – well – I am trying.  In some cases, I make a phone call to a family member and he or she doesn’t answer.  Then, I text and he or she calls back immediately.  Who knows?

• As a now-retired journalist, I loved to read newspapers in my hands, getting fingers ink-dirty.  Now, I confess that I read several newspapers on-line – the Oregonian, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and the New York Times.  So, I am turning my back on my youth.

In all of this, I worry that technology will spark fewer in-person friendships, not a good thing.

To avoid this, I try to keep personal friendships alive, often, but not always, on the golf course.  Personal contact matters, even in a technology world.

And, speaking of technology, a recent episode for me indicated how far I have descended into yes, the abyss. 

As we changed cell service providers, I was told all my information on my old phone would be transported into my new one.  Well, not quite.

What didn’t transfer was the ability to receive e-mail messages on my new phone, which appeared to be the result of Microsoft’s conservative transport policy.  So, now I need professional help to accomplish the objective.

Or, I suppose I could ask my grandchildren for help!

Technology rules – whether we want it to or not.

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.

Here’s another quick look at the governor’s election race in Oregon.

The only fact I know for sure in the Oregon gubernatorial race is who is running against whom.

It will be a repeat of the last time around:

• The current Democrat Governor Tina Kotek is running for re-election, hoping her first four years in the job will produce a second term.

• Her opponent, as was the case four years ago, will be current Oregon senator, Republican Christine Drazan.

Will things be different this time around?  Will a Republican win for the first time in Oregon in more than 40 years?

The best answer now:  Perhaps.

And, to Republicans, hoping for a re-set in Oregon, that is the best answer they’ve had in years.

Why?

A few reasons.

• First, Kotek won a lot of debits among voters because she supported a major gas tax increase and other transportation funding measures in the last Legislature.  Opponents gained referral to the primary election and the measure went down like a stone.  It’s possible Kotek could pay a price for her support.

• Second, Kotek has faced a number of problems in state agencies, such as, for example, in the Department of Human Services which handles foster care management.  The agency has dramatically failed and, while state agency problems don’t translate easily to the campaign trail, foster care could be different.

• Third, it was a surprise a few weeks ago when a major public employee union, the Oregon Education Association (OEA), turned its back on Kotek and declined to endorse in the race.  Bad news for Kotek, but it is tough to tell if the lack of the endorsement will mean OEA members won’t vote for her.  It could mean loss of campaign dollars.

• Fourth, I don’t pay much attention to national polls on how 50 governors are doing in their states – who knows how such polls are done – but, for what it’s worth, Kotek has pulled a very low rating.  No doubt Republicans will try to capitalize on that standing.

Over the last 40 years or so, Republicans have not been able to gather enough votes in urban Oregon to win statewide elective offices, including for governor.  Democrats almost always control urban outcomes.

That was the case in 2010 when the Republican candidate then, Chris Dudley, won 29 of Oregon’s 36 counties, but lost urban Oregon to Democrat John Kitzhaber who turned that strength into re-election.

Plus, this time around, the Republican primary victor, Drazan, will have to decide how to deal with the impact of Donald Trump in Oregon.  It is likely Drazan will try mostly to avoid Trump, but we can expect Kotek and her allies to set out to tie Drazan directly to the unpopular U.S. president.

So, for now, months before the election, Democrats hope to hold their dynasty in Oregon while Republicans hope it’s time for a change.

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.

…..Part Two:  Defeating an Autocrat……

If, like me, you stand around wondering what you can do as an individual to oppose Donald Trump’s intention to become an autocrat – in other words, a supreme leader, much like a God — then read this.

It comes from something called Raw America.  Based at least in part on a column by M. Gessen in the New York Times, it chronicles how voters in Hungary outsmarted the would-be autocrat there, Victor Orban.

Could this be an example of what could be done in America to defeat Trump?  Perhaps.

There is no better approach today than to repeat the Raw America story as part two of my blogs on defeating Trump.  It is not necessary at the start to add any words from me, though I will at the conclusion of this blog.

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This week the New York Times ran a remarkable piece by M. Gessen from Budapest, reporting on the inauguration of Peter Magyar, the man who just did what almost no one in our era has managed to do.  He beat an entrenched autocrat at the ballot box and won decisively enough to start undoing the damage.

For 16 years, Viktor Orban ran Hungary the way Trump dreams of running America.  He dominated the media, re-wrote election laws to favor his own party, and built what observers called a “mafia state.”  He’d seemingly achieved what political theorists call “autocratic breakthrough,” the point past which you supposedly can’t vote a strongman out.

Some group held conventions in Hungary to study his methods.  J.D. Vance flew to Budapest to campaign for him.  And then Hungarians handed the opposition not just a win, but a constitutional majority.

Magyar didn’t build another “machine of power.”  He built an army of ordinary people:  2,000 local organizing hubs, tens of thousands of volunteers, thousands more working phones in the final week.  He traveled to 700 towns and villages, holding five rallies a day, because it turns out that people seeing a candidate in person, again and again, is a powerful antidote to media fearmongering.  When you can’t out-shout the propaganda machine, you go around it, mailbox to mailbox.

Magyar refused to mince words.  Where earlier opposition figures called Orban’s government “corrupt,” Magyar called it a criminal enterprise.  He ran on cleaning it up.  Post-election polling showed corruption, not the economy, was the number one reason voters turned on Orban.

People were moved by moral outrage.  By the sense that something precious was being stolen from the nation itself.  Sound familiar?  And the grassroots that powered the win weren’t political operations at all.  They were teachers, parents fighting for kids in state care, Pride organizers, ordinary people who’d been fighting their own fights.  In our context, Gessen notes, that’s the No Kings rallies, the ICE-resistance networks, and the people already in motion in your own town.

There’s one more lesson that matches our moment.  Magyar’s rise began when he exposed a child sexual abuse scandal that Orban’s government had tried to bury.  In Poland — the only other European country to claw back its democracy this way — a similar cover-up played a central role.  There’s something about these stories that shows people exactly what unaccountable power does behind closed doors.

Jeffrey Epstein is our version of this scandal.

Magyar didn’t win by being crueler or more vulgar than the man he beat (the way, say, Gavin Newsom sometimes tries to out-troll Trump on his own terms).  He won by being aspirational.  At his inauguration he invited a choir of Roma children, Hungary’s most discriminated-against minority, to sing in Parliament.  Grown legislators wept.

He told the people who’d voted against him that the country belonged to them too.  That there was “no left, no right, only Hungarians.”  He raised the European flag back over Parliament but kept a nationalist flag flying beside it, because his message was that this was everyone’s country now.

When the new prime minister finally walked out to the crowd, people were so desperate to close the distance that men hiked up their pants and went splashing straight across the reflecting pool the old regime had built to keep them away.

“This is your house now!” Magyar shouted.

I think we forget, in the grind of bad news, that elections are winnable.  That a democratic America is still in the fight.

An autocrat who looked permanent, who had every institutional advantage, who had the world’s illiberal movement cheering him on, lost.  Enough ordinary people refused to accept that he couldn’t be beaten and then organized like they believed it.

We are not powerless.  We’ve never been powerless.  The machine wants us to feel that way, because despair is what keeps it standing.

*********

A conclusion from me.  So, there is something we can do.  Join others to bring a budding autocrat – Trump – down and reclaims positive parts of our country.

……….Part One………

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 have been reflecting lately on the context behind this blog headline.

Donald Trump is not involved in politics as we have known about the subject in the past.

He is involved in his own little world where he and his family get what they want during his second presidency.

So, here is a list of what Trump is not.

• He is not a follower of rules.  They don’t matter to him.  He makes his own.

• He does not follow what Courts may say.  Their rulings do’t matter to him, so he violates them orders repeatedly.

• He does not follow what his staff may say to him.  He doesn’t ask for advice or listen.

• He doesn’t care what Congress may say doesn’t matter to him.  He avoids the institution at all costs unless its members bow before him.

• He is not a Republican, a Democrat or an Independent in the traditional definitions of those titles.  He is a narcissist.

So, with all this, it is hard to rate Trump on any normal political scale.  IT is true that many of his MAGA followers are departing from him, given how much damage he has done to the country, including at the gas pump. 

The fact that he doesn’t care about his followers or anyone else.  Just himself.

So, the question is whether we can tolerate two more years of Trump’s abhorrent behavior on the way to becoming an autocrat. 

Part Two will be a summary of what one country – Hungary – did to oust it’s own autocrat.  With effort and commitment, the approach could be replicated in the United States to get rid of Trump.

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.

Donald Trump has often proclaimed himself as the best deal-maker in history.

That’s his reality.

Accuracy tells a different story.

His deal-making falls short for three reasons:

• First, he is unprepared.

He never bones up before starting a deal. He also never relies on confidants who may know more than he does before he runs amuck.

• Second, he is mercurial.

That’s a not-often-used word, but it means this:  Describes someone whose mood or behavior is highly unpredictable and liable to change rapidly.  Sounds like Trump, right? 

• Third, Trump often is desperate for a deal and everyone knows it.

Desperation breeds negative results.

The Atlantic Magazine wrote about this in the last week and included this summary of the deal Trump says he is trying to strike to end the Iran war he started without a rationale for doing so, nor an attempt to convince Congress to go along with his escapade for which we are all paying a high price. 

Trump’s war has cost American lives, roiled the economy with sky-high gas prices, and given Republicans who support Trump a lot to consider.

Writing in Atlantic Magazine, here is how columnist David Graham described Trump’s record:

“Donald Trump’s reputation and political career were built on his deal-making prowess, yet the president keeps demonstrating that he is a terrible negotiator.

“Repeatedly over the past nine years, Trump has gotten rolled by counterparts during high-stakes exchanges.  North Korea, Russia, Russia again, China, and China again have gotten the better of the United States.

“Trump has had to slink back to Washington without much to show except empty talk about friendship with whatever dictator has just run circles around him.”

Of course, then Graham goes on to point out what he calls “one glaring exception” to Trump’s self-proclaimed deal-making credentials.  It came when he was negotiated with himself to get his own administration to set up a $1.8 billion slush fund for his political allies.  [As this written, Trump’s fund in legal scrutiny in court.]

To Trump, that’s a win.  For Americans, it’s an incredible abuse.

Graham adds this conclusion:

“… these factors combine to mean that Trump is ill-equipped to win any negotiation, much less one that is the result of his own blundering into war.  Trump is likely to muddle through, as he has so many times in his career, and reach some sort of agreement with Iran.  He will surely say that it’s a great triumph, but reality will be harder to ignore than it was when Trump’s failures merely hurt his own bank accounts.

“One of the ironies of The Art of the Deal, the book that made Trump’s reputation as a clever businessman, is that Trump himself didn’t write it. His ghostwriter, Tony Schwartz, has said that he cobbled the volume together after sitting at Trump’s elbow while he conducted his daily business.  

“Unfortunately, it’s probably too late for Trump to hire a real professional to handle negotiations with Iran.”

So, deal-maker?  No.

Self-dealing?  Yes.

Perspective from the 19^th Hole is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf.  Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon (Les AuCoin), as an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, as press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and as a private sector lobbyist.  This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.  I could have called this blog “Middle Ground,” for that is what I long for in both politics and golf.  The middle ground is often where the best public policy decisions lie.  And it is where you want to be on a golf course.

In the past, my best quote was attributed to General Colin Powell when he said he would not run for president.  The reason:

“He bemoaned the loss of civility in politics.”

But, then, today, I stumbled across a contender for my “best quote accolade.”

Perhaps not surprisingly, it came from President Ronald Reagan.  In 1986, he said this:

“Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases:  If it moves, tax it.  If it keeps moving, regulate it.  And if it stops moving, subsidize it.”

In only a few words, Reagan, the wordsmith, made a great point.