Obama names political operative to handle Ebola

President Obama has named a political operative as the country’s Ebola Response Coordinator. Ron Klain will report to Homeland Security Adviser Lisa Monaco and National Security Adviser Susan Rice.

Klain has served as chief of staff for Vice Presidents Joe Biden and Al Gore. He is a long time Democratic Party operative. He helped oversee the Democratic side in the 2000 presidential election recount as its lead lawyer, a role that Kevin Spacey portrayed in the HBO film “Recount.” Klain is not known for his healthcare expertise, reported The Washington Post.

In my view, it is the same type of approach to Ebola by the U.S. government as we’ve seen in Africa. By that I mean when news of the outbreak in Liberia was reported the U.S. immediately sent troops, at a point when what was needed (and still is), in my opinion anyway, are doctors.

As has been the case since 2009, President Obama continues to disappoint.

The naming of Klain seems a knee-jerk reaction to the criticism the president had been receiving – especially from republicans. As the Washington Post reported, “Obama has come under pressure from Republicans for weeks to appoint an ‘Ebola czar’ to oversee the federal government’s overall effort to contain the disease. Thursday night the president told reporters, ‘It may make sense for us to have one person in part just so that after this initial surge of activity we can have a more regular process, just to make sure that we’re crossing all the t’s and dotting all the i’s going forward.’”