Oct 16, 2014 5 min read

Wake Up To Politics - October 16, 2014

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Thursday, October 16, 2014
19 Days Until Election Day 2014
754 Days Until Election Day 2016
It's Thursday, October 16, 2014, I'm Gabe Fleisher for Wake Up To Politics, and reporting from WUTP world HQ in my bedroom - Good morning: THIS IS YOUR WAKE UP CALL!!!
To send me questions, comments, tips, new subscribers, and more: email me at wakeuptopolitics@gmail.com. To learn more about WUTP, visit the site: wakeuptopolitics.com, or read my tweets: twitter.com/Wakeup2Politics.
Headline: Responding to Outbreak
As a second Dallas health worker tests positive for Ebola, a look at the response to the outbreak in the United States, from President Obama to Congress to Texas hospital officials:

White House Watch: Less than three weeks before American voters head to the polls for midterm elections, President Obama is putting campaigning on hold – taking off his party leader hat, and instead donning that of a crisis manager.
Trips to New Jersey and Connecticut to campaign for Democratic candidates scheduled for Wednesday were postponed, as the President remained in Washington to meet with Cabinet and agency officials on the Ebola outbreak.
After the meeting, Obama addressed American fears over the Ebola outbreak, speaking about “a much more aggressive” response his Administration would launch to combat the epidemic. The President also said, from now on, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) would send a SWAT team to new Ebola cases within 24 hours of diagnosis.
Obama’s travel scheduled for Thursday will also not go on, although today’s planned political trips to Rohde Island and New York have been cancelled, while Wednesday’s events were postponed, and will be rescheduled.
The cancellations leave no items on the President’s schedule for today (that we know of); Obama will stay in Washington, D.C. monitoring the Ebola outbreak, in the United States and West Africa.
Capitol Hill News: House Speaker John Boehner is also weighing in on the Ebola cases in the United States, calling for a “temporary ban on travel to the United States from countries afflicted with the virus”.
“[The temporary ban] is something that the president should absolutely consider along with any other appropriate actions as doubts about the security of our air travel systems grow. It is also imperative we ensure that federal, state and local agencies, along with our public health infrastructure, are prepared, remain vigilant, and follow proper protocols to identify the virus and take appropriate measures for those who have been exposed to it,” Speaker Boehner said in a statement.
Boehner’s fellow members of the Ohio congressional delegation have also spoke on the government response to Ebola, in the weight of revelations that the second health worker with Ebola flew to Cincinnati after treating the first Ebola patient, who has died.
Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) claimed a constituent, who was on the Cincinnati flight with the now-diagnosed health worker, waited 108 minutes to connect with a CDC hotline.
Down in Texas At a House committee hearing today, a number of officials from the U.S. government and Texas hospital (where all three U.S. Ebola cases have been diagnosed) will testify and apologize.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Oversight and Investigation subcommittee is holding the hearing; the witness list includes
CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden, the NIH’s Dr. Anthony Fauci, the FDA’s Dr. Luciana Borio, HHS’ Dr. Robin Robinson, John Wagner of the FDA, and Dr. Daniel Varga, Chief Clinical Officer and Senior Vice President of Texas Health Resources, which administers Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital.
In prepared remarks, Dr. Varga apologizes for the hospital’s treatment of Liberian Thomas Eric Duncan, which led to mistakes going forward: “Unfortunately, in our initial treatment of Mr. Duncan, despite our best intentions and a highly skilled medical team, we made mistakes. We did not correctly diagnose his symptoms as those of Ebola. We are deeply sorry,” Varga plans to say at the hearing later today.
--- LINK: Texas hospital Chief Clinical Officer, Dr. Daniel Varga’s planned testimony before a House subcommittee, to be delivered later today: http://docs.house.gov/meetings/IF/IF02/20141016/102718/HHRG-113-IF02-Wstate-VargaD-20141016.pdf

Election Central

--- LINK: Wisconsin gubernatorial poll shows Walker, Burke tied: http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/latest-marquette-poll-results-come-in-busy-week-on-campaign-trail-b99371330z1-279278392.html
--- LINK: Early voting in Iowa Senate race favors Democrat Bruce Braley: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/15/iowa-early-voting_n_5991614.html
--- LINK: Politico Magazine profile of Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate Martha Coakley: http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/10/martha-chokeley-111921.html#ixzz3GI1lojms
--- LINK: New York Times profile of Jason Carter, who follows in his grandfather’s footsteps as he vies to return the Carter name to the Georgia State House: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/16/us/once-again-a-carter-aims-to-govern-in-georgia.html?ref=politics&_r=0
Surrogates Schedule of campaigning for today:
Former president Bill Clinton ---> New Hampshire to headline Jefferson-Jackson dinner.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) ---> New Hampshire, to headline state Republican Party “get out the vote” rallies.
Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton ---> Michigan, to campaign for Democratic U.S. Senate and gubernatorial candidates.
---LINK: And…while today’s events were canceled: President Barack Obama’s campaign schedule for the days and weeks to come: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/dcbaf958b9464fa2914f1f473e716024/obama-juggles-campaign-duties-ebola-response

Today's Tidbit

After a long debate over abortion and other issues, Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts (R), and his challenger, Independent Greg Orman, the last question may have been the most difficult of all: the candidates were asked to say a nice thing about their opponent.
Orman began by talking about Roberts’ Marine service, and said, “Every time I’ve had an opportunity to talk privately with the senator, he’s been a gentleman with a great sense of humor.”
Then, it was Roberts’ turn. The incumbent took a different approach to the question, saying, “I would say that you are a very well-dressed opponent,” Roberts told Orman. “I admire your accumulation of wealth. I have a little question about how you got there from here, but that’s the American dream,” as much of a swing on Orman as a nice thing.
Welcome to politics, Mr. Orman.