The Tuesday Morning Jolt features my last update from Oregon, a surprise about who’s paying the minimum wage in Kentucky, and then this news from the National Republican Senatorial Committee, seen here first:
NRSC to Senate Democrats: Just Try to Defend Picking Klain for Ebola Czar!
This morning the National Republican Senatorial Committee is hitting this year’s crop of vulnerable Democrat incumbents for meekly acquiescing to President Obama’s naming Ron Klain — as Andy McCarthy summarizes, a “sharp-elbowed Democratic political operative with no medical expertise” — as the “Ebola czar.”
Here’s the Mark Begich version:
Unfortunately, Mark Begich (D-AK) not only refuses to hold the Obama Administration accountable for the slow response to Ebola entering our borders, but it appears that he has taken his marching orders from the White House on a serious matter of public health. Instead, Begich’s Washington allies have resorted to spreading false and debunked claims, blaming others for the Administration’s failures. President Obama’s choice of Ron Klain as Ebola Czar is indefensible, yet Mark Begich once again refuses to hold the White House accountable.
“It is absurd that President Obama believes that a partisan lobbyist with zero medical experience should lead the national response to the Ebola epidemic, but Mark Begich is nowhere to be found,” said NRSC Press Secretary Brook Hougesen. “Mark Begich apparently believes that a partisan Washington lobbyist like Ron Klain is an appropriate choice for this position, which speaks to his lack of judgment and his refusal to stand up to President Obama’s poor decisions — even on matters of public health and safety.”
Will this make a big difference in the coming midterm elections? If nothing else, we may get some amusing moments of watching these Democratic senators trying to explain why Ron Klain is such a terrific guy for this job.
We know Senator Mark Pryor of Arkansas greets questions about Ebola with a lengthy “uhhhhhhhhh,” and Senator Mark Udall of Colorado is having a tough enough time with any questions as is these days.