Why does COVID-19 fall along political fault lines?
In a recent guest opinion, three of Idaho’s most distinguished citizens, former Congressman Walt Minnick, former Governor Butch Otter and Bill Manny, formerly an editor for the Idaho Statesman and now with Idaho Public Television, underscored the importance of civility in the public dialogue, especially during this coronavirus pandemic. The authors offer welcome advice to their fellow citizens about appropriate behavior and the civic virtues they should practice.
The column ends with a quote from U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho: “Covid-19 isn’t a Republican problem or a Democratic problem. It’s an American problem. Stay calm, stay informed and stay home.” Then the reader is informed that theirs is a bipartisan sentiment since Simpson’s Democratic opponent agrees.
The message is perfectly timed as political battle lines have been drawn over wearing masks and social distancing as though there is a partisan difference over these two essential requirements for avoiding the spread of the coronavirus. A Gallup poll last month demonstrates the politicization of mask use. Only 18% of Democrats or Democratic-leaning independents said they did not use a mask while 46% of Republicans or Republican-leaning independents said they did not use a mask. 83% of Democrats or Democrat-leaning independents said they used a mask all the time or sometimes while only 46% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents used one all the time or sometimes.
The fault lines are clear. Too many Americans react to COVID-19 and the recommendation of epidemiologists to wear masks and social-distance based on political party affiliation and ideology. How is it that large numbers of Americans can so easily disregard sound scientific and medical advice on how the coronavirus spreads in a community? Taxes, abortion, guns or immigration all make sense as issues that divide Americans. But why would some Americans go their separate ways over sound scientific advice about the health of their families and neighbors?
The answer to that question can be found at 1600 Pennsylyania Avenue where the president of the United States stood before the American people last month and announced new federal guidelines recommending that Americans wear face masks when in public to fight the spread of the coronavirus. And then he promptly added that he had no intention of using a mask.
As surely as water flows downhill, many of his followers thumbed their noses at the federal guidelines as Gallup found in its polling. Trump used his “bully pulpit” — a term coined by President Theodore Roosevelt to explain how a President could address Americans on issues of conscience and ethics — to encourage followers to ignore a recommendation made by a taskforce he created and led by his vice president that could fight the spread of the coronavirus and save lives.
Trump dialed up his politics of grievance and division by attacking Democratic governors of key battleground states in the upcoming November election. If COVID-19 was not a Republican problem at the time of its outbreak in America, he has made a cottage industry out of stoking the partisan fires of the right. He’s chosen states that are critical to his electoral college vote so there can be no mistake about his intentions.
As the Michigan governor was trying to enforce a stay-at-home order, Trump called for the state’s citizens to be liberated. He spewed his venom at the Virginia governor when at a White House event last week, he said, “We’re going after Virginia, with your crazy governor, we’re going after Virginia.” Hardly the civil pleadings of a President bringing his country together in the midst of a pandemic.
Last week, the president traveled to Pennsylvania, another of the states he considers critical to his reelection in November. This time, Trump criticized the governor for reopening the economy slowly, even though the governor was following Trump’s coronavirus task force guidelines. Then to add insult to injury, the president questioned the value of testing, claiming it may be overrated.
We can all agree that COVID-19 is an American problem and we can agree that it should not be a Republican or Democrat problem. But the president of the United States decided otherwise, to make COVID-19 a partisan issue, to model incivility and disobedience for his followers to emulate in the states. He does so again and again, on a daily basis.
With his approval ratings stalled out at 43%, it would make so much sense for Republicans to be speaking out and speaking directly to their President about the mayhem he is likely creating for his party this November, not to mention the harm he brings to those victimized by his refusal to take coronavirus guidelines seriously.
It’s not too late for the president of the United States to give up sowing the seeds of discord and heed the Simpson quote that COVID-19 need not be a Republican or Democrat problem. But it will be just that until the president decides to unite this country rather than tear it apart, to respect the individual approaches governors have taken to keep their citizens safe and get them back to work when it is safe to do so.
Meanwhile, let’s hope Congressman Simpson sends the guest opinion to President Trump. The president needs to hear from members of his own party about taking the partisan sting out of his press conferences and rising above his selfish and narcissistic inclinations.
If that fails, voters in November may just do the job for them.