Coronavirus response highlights deepening partisan divide

In Los Angeles, Mayor Eric Garcetti has instituted a shutdown on a city of nearly 4 million people and threatened uncooperative business owners with power shutoffs and arrest. In Mississippi, home to nearly 3 million people, Gov. Tate Reeves has allowed most businesses to stay open — even restaurants, so long as they serve no more than 10 people at a time.

The divergent approaches are evidence that not even a global pandemic can bridge the gaping political divisions of the Trump era. The fierce tribalism that has characterized debates over immigration, taxes and health care is now coloring policy-making during a coronavirus outbreak that threatens countless lives and local economies across nation.

There are exceptions, but Republican leaders have been far more likely to resist the most aggressive social distancing measures, emboldened by President Donald Trump's initial rosy outlook and a smaller early caseload in their more rural communities across middle America. But in the more crowded population centers on the East and West coasts where the disease first appeared, the Democrats in charge have been more willing to embrace strict steps such as curfews, sweeping business closures, and law enforcement assistance.

"This epidemic has been a window into our politics," said Larry Levitt, who leads health policy for the Kaiser Family Foundation, which has been tracking responses. "Particularly over the past couple of weeks, a political divide has emerged." It is an election year divide that could have deadly consequences.

As his campaign struggles for attention, leading Democratic presidential contender Joe Biden has called for a nationwide lockdown to replace the patchwork of local responses, which have varied even among neighbouring communities in the same states. Trump, meanwhile, is largely allowing local officials to choose their own course and has encouraged them to compete for scant federal resources.

Politically, the strategy may be working for the first-term Republican president. With the election seven months away, Trump's favourable ratings are ticking up, even if his numbers have fallen short of past presidents during times of crisis. Yet the GOP's loyalty will almost certainly be tested in the weeks ahead as the virus spreads from the blue-state coastal communities deeper into red-state middle America.

Democrats like Garcetti fear the politics that are shaping conflicting pandemic responses will have real-world consequences far more important than the next election. "I do worry that making this a partisan issue will kill more people in redder states," the Los Angeles mayor said in an interview.

"There is no way to keep this out of your city." In Mississippi, Reeves has adopted many social distancing measures such as limiting groups to 10 people, even if he's resisted some of the most aggressive steps. In an interview late last week, the Republican governor reiterated his opposition to a stay-at-home order, adding that he's heeding the guidance of state health officials and Vice President Mike Pence himself, who told him directly during a recent conversation that the Trump administration is not recommending a blanket shutdown.

Reeves dismissed those who think he's not doing enough as enemies of Trump who "don't like the fact that I'm a conservative and I'm willing to pray." He warned that extended social distancing orders could cause a more dangerous fallout than the pandemic by destroying the nation's economy. "I don't think there's any doubt that if the United States found themselves in a severe depression with 20 per cent to 30 per cent unemployment that the abject poverty that could create could lead to more health problems than this particular virus is causing," Reeves said.

He added: "One size doesn't fit all in this country." No nation has more documented cases of the deadly virus than the United States, which surpassed 143,000 total infections and 2,400 related deaths as of Monday morning. Yet Trump's coronavirus task force coordinator, Dr. Deborah Birx, reported Monday that the nation has perhaps only seen roughly 1 per cent or 2 per cent of the total number of deaths expected in a best-case scenario.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)