Sometimes a candidate catches a wave, but sometimes the wave crashes on the candidate.
It probably seemed like Martha McSally’s campaign was surfing into a strong current of political opinion when her spokesman sent out a press release Monday morning.
The campaign’s first announcement of the week criticized the Obama administration and her opponent, Rep. Ron Barber, for their performance in addressing the Ebola issue. Her idea: Implement “a quarantine process for any traveler coming to the United States from West Africa.”
“Instead of leading to make sure this gets done, Congressman Barber has failed to put forward a plan to ensure our community is kept safe. Southern Arizonans want to know what his ideas are to keep our community safe and ensure the government is doing all it can to prevent the spread of this virus.”
At the moment the press release went out, two nurses who had treated an Ebola patient in Dallas had contracted the virus, raising the country’s fears that the few U.S. cases could become an outbreak.
But even then, asking for an anti-Ebola plan from Barber and, presumably, each of the 434 other members of the House, seemed far-fetched to me. Is each congressman to become the local Ebola czar?
Stranger yet, Barber had previously scheduled a meeting for later Monday, bringing together representatives of many of Southern Arizona’s hospitals and emergency-response agencies.
I attended the meeting Barber’s office put together at Tucson Medical Center Monday afternoon, expecting it to be essentially a political event that provided his campaign cover on the Ebola issue. It definitely did give him cover, but not in the artificial way I expected: The participants seemed to actually get something out of it.
Hospital officials told about their Ebola preparations; a small Cochise County hospital made a contact that allowed for it to get personal protective equipment clinics; a Customs and Border Protection official told of increased monitoring at ports of entry; and clinics and fire departments got advice on how to treat employees who conduct triage on possible Ebola patients. All in all, it was a useful session if not an all-out Ebola “plan.”
When I asked Barber about McSally’s press release after the meeting, he said, “The truth of the matter is that Martha is once again on the sidelines pointing fingers, instead of trying to come to work in a collaborative way on behalf of the community. It’s the same old same old with her.”
When I asked McSally’s campaign for a response Thursday, they sent me a statement saying, “It’s inexcusable that Congress and President Obama were unprepared for this threat considering we were aware of it months ago. Real leadership means taking action before there’s a crisis.”
It’s not that Barber himself has been immune to Ebola hype — countering public fear was one of the main reasons for Monday’s meeting. And on Oct. 15, he issued a press release calling for Ebola screening that, if drawn out to its logical conclusion, would mean testing the blood of visa applicants and travelers at airports in West Africa — a difficult and possibly dangerous proposition.
The news this week, though, has been positive on Ebola in the USA: Most of the few Americans who’ve contracted it have recovered. The Obama administration has also put restrictions on travel by residents of Ebola-affected countries into the U.S.
Although a New York City doctor who treated Ebola patients in West Africa has been diagnosed with the virus, overall the rising wave of public fear seems to be shrinking into a small swell of concern — certainly not big enough to carry a candidate to election victory.
CLEVER CAMPAIGN AD
While Ebola may not have been a winner for McSally, I credit her campaign for changing the tone in the annoying ad wars with the clever spot called “Puppies,” released this week. It features a giant man with a frightening baritone voice leveling charges against McSally like those Barber’s campaign has used in its ads. McSally, looking tiny next to him, rejects each accusation.
In the end, the man tries out, “McSally dislikes puppies,” and the camera shows her holding a cute pup. “Watch it,” she warns him.
No question, McSally and her supporters have been significantly responsible for the negative tone of the campaign that the ad criticizes. And in truth, the puppy idea has been used in campaigns before. But hey, at least they lightened the tone — and did a good job of it.
Barber’s campaign came out with a humorless press release in response, stating: “Instead of telling Southern Arizonans the truth about her stated plans to privatize Social Security and Medicare, cut funding for Arizona schools, and take away a woman’s right to choose, Martha McSally is making light of the issues that matter to people and talking about puppies.”
I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s heard so much about those issues already that we’re happy to hear instead about puppies.
TUCSON CONSERVATIVE?
A study that’s been making the rounds this week ranks all U.S. cities with a population higher than 250,000 by the degree of conservatism in the residents’ policy preferences. Surprisingly, Tucson comes out in the more conservative half of the 67-city list.
The study, by researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and UCLA, called Mesa the country’s most conservative city and San Francisco the least conservative.
Tucson ranked 31st on the list, tied with Albuquerque and Dallas. Phoenix was more conservative at 19th. Reputedly conservative San Diego, though, ranked eight places lower than Tucson.
