Joe Biden’s plans on pandemic make sense (editorial)

Joe Biden

Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden listens during a campaign event with steelworkers in the backyard of a home in Detroit, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)AP

Joe Biden’s presidential campaign has put together a plan to address the coronavirus pandemic if he wins election. He has assembled a team of experts from previous administrations, both Democratic and Republican, and has detailed a course of action that can be taken from the get-go on Jan. 20, Inauguration Day.

Donald Trump’s administration also has a plan for dealing with COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus: Keep the Centers for Disease Control from issuing statements that might make the president look bad.

Which plan holds more promise? The question answers itself.

Late on Friday, Politico reported that officials at the Department of Health and Human services have insisted on reviewing reports from the CDC before they can be published and have sometimes demanded changes in the wording of the documents if they were thought to conflict with Trump’s sunnier messaging. Some of the details were stunning, really – or at least would have been in any time before Trump was president. But these days, sadly, we’ve come to expect such ridiculousness.

Michael Caputo, a onetime Trump campaign official who in April became HHS spokesman, has reportedly been politicizing the CDC reports, putting some on hold and massaging the language of others. Here he was, defending his efforts with terminology that shows his true colors:

“Our intention is to make sure that evidence, science-based data drives policy through this pandemic – not ulterior deep-state motives in the bowels of CDC,” he told Politico.

Anyone in government, at any level, who uses the term “deep state” is either himself an out-of-touch whackadoodle who believes in wild conspiracy theories or is looking to appeal to folks who, well, believe in much that is unbelievable. Either is a problem coming from a government official.

Caputo, it’s worth noting, is a political consultant with no medical or scientific expertise. But he feels it his place to edit the findings of the medical and scientific experts at the CDC.

Contrast this with the plan put forth by the Biden campaign, which has assembled a team of officials from the administrations of Presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. They have developed plans for increased testing, the widespread distribution of protective equipment and of vaccines, once proven successful and safe.

Which approach seems more sensible? Again, the question answers itself.

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