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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums"...what if the political world’s approach to the Ebola threat is backwards?"
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http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/turning-the-politics-ebola-its-ear
Turning the politics of Ebola on its ear
10/31/14 04:29 PMUpdated 10/31/14 07:07 PM
By Steve Benen
After a few weeks of Republicans turning the Ebola virus into a campaign instrument, its still not altogether clear what GOP officials and candidates want voters to think. The message is a little convoluted: Americans are supposed to be terrified, which should lead them to vote Republican, which in turn will empower GOP policymakers to do
something.
Its not that Republicans actually have some Ebola-related policy agenda in mind that can only be implemented by a GOP-run Congress. Rather, the right seems to believe the Obama administration has been incompetent in its response to the Ebola threat. By voting Republican, Americans can ensure that GOP officials complain from the majority instead of complaining from the minority.
Some of the political hysterics have arguably been effective. The latest USA Today poll asked which party Americans believe can do a better job responding to the Ebola threat, and the parties were nearly tied (Democrats 34%, Republicans 32%). Most recent polling suggests the public is generally satisfied with President Obamas handling of the issue, but its hardly one-sided.
Its against this backdrop that Paul Waldman asks a good question: what if the political worlds approach to the Ebola threat is backwards?
Of course not. Youd say that sounds like a public health triumph.
Agreed. It seems many of the presidents detractors were so eager to declare a new Obamas Katrina the 11th in a series that they overlooked the nagging detail that the federal response to Ebola has actually been quite effective.
Indeed, the irony of this political controversy, for lack of a better word, is that to find true incompetence, we must turn not to the White House but to those whove complained about the White House the loudest.
It wasnt the White House that clumsily detained a nurse without cause for three days; it was Gov. Chris Christie (R). It wasnt the president coming up with strange conspiracy theories; it was Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.). It wasnt West Wing officials urging the public to ignore scientists; it was Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.).
It wasnt Obama who said terrorists with Ebola might sneak into the U.S. through Mexico, it was Scott Brown (R). It wasnt Democrats who used Ebola as the basis for an election fundraiser; it was Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.). It wasnt Democrats who descended into incoherence on the merits of an Ebola czar; it was congressional Republicans.
House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) appeared on one of the Sunday shows the other day, arguing that the public just cant have any confidence that the Obama administration will deal with the threat effectively. First, the administration is already dealing with the threat effectively. Second, theres polling that suggests the exact opposite is true.
But even putting that aside, the more pressing question seems to be why, given recent developments, anyone should trust the party engaging in reckless and baseless election-year fear-mongering.
valerief
(53,235 posts)KMOD
(7,906 posts)I'm am so disgusted with the politicians using this for political gain. It's just sickening, and I hope it does backfire on them.
We still have a few days before the midterms, and once people realize that we have no Ebola crisis, just one patient, who is recovering, maybe they will understand that they've been played by the politicians (overwhelmingly republican) and the media.