| | | Obama’s Newly-Appointed ‘Ebola Czar’ Happens to Be Lacking in One Important Area of Expertise
By Caroline Schaeffer (35 mins ago) | Headlines, Health, Politics
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Image credit: Evy Mages, The Washington Post
President Obama has asked Democratic operative Ron Klain to be the “Ebola Czar” and coordinate the federal government’s response to the deadly virus, sources close to the President have told CNN.
Having previously rejected the idea of an “Ebola Czar,” Obama relented on Thursday, CNN reports.
“It may make sense for us to have one person … 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,” Obama said.
Klain served as Chief of Staff to Vice Presidents Gore and Biden, and spearheaded Gore’s recount efforts in the 2000 presidential election. Having left the Vice President’s office in 2011, he has since become the president of Case Holdings, the holding company for AOL co-founder Steve Case, NBC News reports.
Our new Ebola Czar does not, however, have any medical experience, as CNN reports.
That has not dissuaded Washington Democrats, who applaud Obama’s pick as an excellent choice to “control the message,” especially in advance of the midterm elections, New York Times reports.
“He’ll control the message better than most people would, which is really important from an economic standpoint, from a health standpoint, but it’s also important from a political perspective,” one official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because no formal announcement had been made.
Klain will be reporting to national security adviser Susan Rice and Obama’s homeland security adviser Lisa Monaco. |
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