Ebola is 2014 October surprise

Wednesday, October 15, 2014
By Paul Martin

By Elise Viebeck
TheHill.com
10/15/14

Ebola has become the October surprise of this year’s midterm elections, with Democrats and Republicans doing battle over everything from restrictions on travel to the disposal of a victim’s remains.

The U.S. public is increasingly fearful of the virus following three cases in Texas and news that the fatality rate for infected patients has hit 70 percent in West Africa.

The mounting anxiety has made politicians extra attentive to Ebola, with candidates seizing on the spread of the virus to hammer their opponents.

The issue is particularly fraught for Democrats, given signs that President Obama’s dragging poll numbers could help Republicans take control of the Senate. Though Ebola is unlikely to move the needle in specific races, political strategists say it adds to the darkening public mood.

“The situation with Ebola and what’s going on in Syria and Iraq — all of this is creating a high level of anxiety among voters and a sense of uncertainty about the future,” said Democratic strategist Doug Thornell.

Both parties are seizing on the Ebola crisis to reinforce broader political themes.

Democrats are pinning blame on the GOP, arguing the party has hobbled the response by supporting budget cuts to public health agencies that anticipate and respond to epidemics.

Republicans, in turn, are raising questions about the administration’s preparedness and pushing Obama to impose tougher restrictions on air travel from the three West African countries that are at the center of the outbreak: Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.

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