Politico’s David Nather cast the most mentioned Republican presidential contenders as un-presidential on Friday in a story headlined “GOP 2016ers on Ebola: Panic.” Only Rick Perry was the responsible one, he implied:
For once, President Barack Obama and Texas Gov. Rick Perry are on the same page. At separate briefings on the Ebola crisis, Obama administration officials and Perry have delivered the same message: Don’t panic — the health authorities know what they’re doing.
But for other Republicans — and conservative media outlets — it’s time for panic.
The likely 2016 Republican presidential candidates — except for Perry — are practically lining up to warn that the Obama administration isn’t doing enough to keep Ebola out of the United States, now that Dallas is dealing with the nation’s first confirmed case.
Nather listed Rand Paul stoking fears on the Laura Ingraham radio show, and Ted Cruz, Paul Ryan, and Bobby Jindal all talking out loud about banning flights from western Africa or quarantining passengers before they fly out.
When he reached out for experts, Nather found most experts didn't find it weird or paranoid to raise questions about the government response -- in other words, they don't have the knee-jerk Obama-defending impulses the reporter does -- but he still wanted to honor Perry as the sane, presidential one.
It’s a glaring contrast, but most public health experts — including GOP health care experts — say there’s nothing wrong with the 2016 Republicans raising questions about the effectiveness of the Obama administration’s safeguards against Ebola, or asking whether stronger measures should be taken.
It’s the tone that makes all the difference in the world — especially for politicians who are basically auditioning for the role of commander in chief.
“It’s not that we should close our minds. It’s that they shouldn’t jump to extreme recommendations in public like this,” said William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University. “It gets in the way of reasoned discourse and public education.”
In fact, it was Perry — the error-prone 2012 presidential candidate — who got the best reviews for his efforts to calm the public about the Dallas Ebola case. “I thought he did pretty well,” Schaffner said. “My hat was off to him.”
Perry’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment on the harder line the other Republicans have taken.
In addition to the Ingraham show, Nather also singled out a Washington Free Beacon story on "The Case for Panic" and Fox & Friends for overdoing the issue.
