EbolaCandidates of both parties use Ebola crisis to attack opponents
Democratic and Republican campaign officials are uncertain about the political ramifications of Ebola’s arrival in the United States, but some congressional candidates have already used the topic to connect with voters. A poll by the National Republican Senatorial Committee(NRSC), the campaign group for Senate Republicans, found that 60 percent of voters believe Ebola should be treated as a major crisis by the White House if a single case of Ebola is found in the United States. Even congressional Democrats who have been supportive of Obama’s position toward the Ebola crises have used the Ebola epidemic against opponents.
Democratic and Republican campaign officials are uncertain about the political ramifications of Ebola’s arrival in the United States, but some congressional candidates have already used the topic to connect with voters. “I’m a mom. I have kids. People are concerned. Again, this is a safety and security issue,” Michigan Republican Senate candidate Terri Lynn Land told Michigan Public Radio last Friday. Land proposed a travel ban or other restrictions to stop infected travelers from entering the United States. Land also urged President Barack Obama and her opponent, Representative Gary Peters (D-Michigan), to issue a proactive response to Ebola. “The President needs to lead,” Land said. “Congressman Peters needs to lead — to come up with a plan to make sure we can deal with this.”
In response, Haley Morris, a spokeswoman for Peters, told CNN News that using Ebola as a political tool was desperate. “It is sad Terri Lynn Land is now so desperate that she’s trying to use a deadly virus as a political issue, and it’s shameful,” Morris said. “Before playing politics with such a serious issue, Terri Lynn Land should explain why she pushed for the government shutdown last year, which hampered the CDC and our nation’s emergency readiness.”
A poll by the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), the campaign group for Senate Republicans, found that 60 percent of voters believe Ebola should be treated as a major crisis by the White House if a single case of Ebola is found in the United States. “Washington is broken,” claimed an NRSC email obtained by CNN. “The top-down approach championed by Democrats for decades (and controlled by them at the federal level in Washington) has shown itself to be completely unprepared and ill-equipped for 21st Century challenges.”
Even congressional Democrats who have been supportive of Obama’s position toward the Ebola crises have used the Ebola epidemic against opponents. Before the United States confirmed its first Ebola patient, Senator Mark Pryor (D-Arkansas) attacked his opponent, Representative Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) in an August campaign ad, noting that Cotton voted against a 2013 bill that provided funds to respond to pandemics. Pryor excluded the fact that Cotton supported the final version of the bill, which became law. Last Friday, Cotton and fellow House Republicans from Arkansas wrote a letter to Obama urging him to impose a flight ban on Ebola-affected countries. “The quality of our hospitals, we well as our talented doctors, is undoubtedly a draw for people with the means and will to come to the U.S.— sometimes because exposure to Ebola in their own country and in spite of the risk to the health of Americans,” the congressmen wrote.
Thom Tillis, a Republican candidate contesting Kay Hagan’s (D-North Carolina)Senate seat, has also called for a travel ban on West African countries. “It’s time for Washington to take action to protect the American people,” said Tillis.
The White House is not considering any travel restrictions against the affected countries, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters last Friday.
