# Effective elected leaders, and those who aren't, in dealing with pandemic **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [March 21, 2020, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/effective-elected-leaders-and-those-who-arent-in-dealing-with-pandemic/849961 "2020-03-21T15:41:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2020, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/effective-elected-leaders-and-those-who-arent-in-dealing-with-pandemic/849961/1 "2020-03-21T15:41:21Z")
CNN and others have praised the governor of my state, Ohio: [Mike DeWine: Ohio governor remains collected and directed in the face of the coronavirus pandemic | CNN Politics](https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/21/politics/mike-dewine-coronavirus-response/index.html). I didn’t vote for him but think he’s handled things pretty well. Plenty of criticism of the President elsewhere, but feel free to add more here, if you wish. How is your governor, mayor or other top elected leader doing where you live? ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2020, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/effective-elected-leaders-and-those-who-arent-in-dealing-with-pandemic/849961/2 "2020-03-21T16:23:32Z")
An interesting article comparing the leadership of Angela Merkel with that of Donald Trump: [The Leader of the Free World Gives a Speech, and She Nails It.](https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/03/angela-merkel-nails-coronavirus-speech-unlike-trump.html) That doesn’t mean that everything works well in Germany fighting the virus, the federal system means that there are differences in the approach in the different states where a countrywide coordination would be important, but that’s what you pay for a federal state. But all in all, I still don’t feel the need to panic and trust our government in doing the right measures. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2020, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/effective-elected-leaders-and-those-who-arent-in-dealing-with-pandemic/849961/3 "2020-03-21T16:35:10Z")
Can’t help wondering what is going on in Russia, I simply cannot believe they do not have a problem given their borders with China, I think they are lying about their figures - good old Putin , he doesn’t want anything to interfere with his plans to change the constitution so that he can maintain his grip on power > **[Subscribe to read | Financial Times](https://www.ft.com/content/b8141e08-693a-11ea-800d-da70cff6e4d3)** > > News, analysis and comment from the Financial Times, the worldʼs leading global business publication Iran - they have lied and lied again, to such an extent that their own people are just ignoring them [https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/03/19/iran-irgc-coronavirus-propaganda-blames-america-israel/](https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/03/19/iran-irgc-coronavirus-propaganda-blames-america-israel/) These are supposed to be ‘elected leaders’ ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2020, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/effective-elected-leaders-and-those-who-arent-in-dealing-with-pandemic/849961/4 "2020-03-21T17:27:44Z")
Can we please stop the **xenophobic** “lying about their figures” crap. It’s basically impossible to hide a large group of sick people. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2020, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/effective-elected-leaders-and-those-who-arent-in-dealing-with-pandemic/849961/5 "2020-03-21T18:10:08Z")
How about ineffective _appointed_ leaders? Should they be discussed in a different thread or may we discuss them here? (Anyway, charges against Redfield, if he is incompetent, can be laid on the POTUS who appointed him in 2018.) [The Atlantic has a good article on poor U.S. response to the virus.](https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/03/how-many-americans-are-sick-lost-february/608521/) It makes the CDC, led by Robert Redfield, look bad. Wiki’ing Redfield tells us he’s a homophobe endorsed by Evangelists and has been accused of fraud. Wiki leads to [an article titled “Meet Trump’s new homophobic public health quack”](https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/03/23/meet-trumps-new-homophobic-public-health-quack/) and to [an article at Poz.com](https://www.poz.com/blog/concerns-robert-redfield-cdc): > [@](#): > > Donald Trump has nominated Dr. Robert Redfield to head the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In the early ’90s, Dr. Redfield was accused of scientific fraud by the U.S. Army concerning AIDS vaccine research, which is cause for some concern… > However, I am more concerned about his intimate, decades-long relationship with the leaders of the organization the Army criticized him for having an “inappropriate close relationship” with, that led to those scientific fraud charges, than I am with the fraud charges themselves. > That organization is “Americans for a Sound AIDS Policy” (ASAP), founded and led by ultra-right conservative anti-gay activists Shepherd and Anita Smith… > Dr. Redfield has been one of if not their closest allies in government; he served on ASAP’s board and he still serves on CAFI’s board today. The Smiths, their organizations and their ultra-right “Christian” activism are largely unknown to the public, but they have been a powerful behind-the-scenes player, currying favor with HIV policy leaders in government in large part because of their ability to deliver evangelical/Christian Right votes in Congress for appropriations. ETA: CNN [https://edition.cnn.com/2018/05/13/opinions/trumps-terrible-choice-for-cdc-redfield-garrett/index.html](https://edition.cnn.com/2018/05/13/opinions/trumps-terrible-choice-for-cdc-redfield-garrett/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2020, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/effective-elected-leaders-and-those-who-arent-in-dealing-with-pandemic/849961/6 "2020-03-21T18:39:49Z")
**AK84** > [@](#): > > Can we please stop the xenophobic “lying about their figures” crap. It’s basically impossible to hide a large group of sick people. OK then, you make credible counter claims about the figures and the cites I have offered. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2020, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/effective-elected-leaders-and-those-who-arent-in-dealing-with-pandemic/849961/7 "2020-03-21T18:54:32Z")
Indiana is doing surprisingly well. For a state where many voters reject science and experts, our governor is taking the issue seriously. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2020, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/effective-elected-leaders-and-those-who-arent-in-dealing-with-pandemic/849961/8 "2020-03-21T18:58:20Z")
[Lake Worth Beach city commission meeting](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bgCCXSrwHA) (2:17 video); I’ll let y’all decide who is an effective leader and who is not. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2020, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/effective-elected-leaders-and-those-who-arent-in-dealing-with-pandemic/849961/9 "2020-03-21T18:58:24Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Can we please stop the **xenophobic** “lying about their figures” crap. It’s basically impossible to hide a large group of sick people. Doctors in Russia are the ones saying the government is lying. Coronavirus cases are really low, but pneumonia cases are spiking. [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-coronavirus-health-russia/sharp-increase-in-moscow-pneumonia-cases-fuels-fears-over-coronavirus-statistics-idUSKBN216305](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-coronavirus-health-russia/sharp-increase-in-moscow-pneumonia-cases-fuels-fears-over-coronavirus-statistics-idUSKBN216305) Also its kind of silly to assume its xenophobic to say a foreign government is lying. Putin lies all the time. He said he wasn’t involved in election hacking. The Chinese government tried to cover up the virus. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2020, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/effective-elected-leaders-and-those-who-arent-in-dealing-with-pandemic/849961/10 "2020-03-21T19:10:30Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Can we please stop the **xenophobic** “lying about their figures” crap. It’s basically impossible to hide a large group of sick people. Well, that’s just not what is being claimed, is it? What’s bieng claimed is that governments are lying about the numbers. Russia claims 253 cases last I checked. If in fact it’s 2,530, and they’re just lying about that number and classifying sick people as having the flu or pneumonia, how is that hard to hide? In a country with almost 150 million people, a number like that is easily fudged. Who else could prove it false? ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2020, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/effective-elected-leaders-and-those-who-arent-in-dealing-with-pandemic/849961/11 "2020-03-21T19:42:37Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > [Lake Worth Beach city commission meeting](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bgCCXSrwHA) (2:17 video); I’ll let y’all decide who is an effective leader and who is not. Holy Shit. I’m so glad I wasn’t in that room. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2020, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/effective-elected-leaders-and-those-who-arent-in-dealing-with-pandemic/849961/12 "2020-03-22T00:19:12Z")
This is very hard to judge at this point. Ideally, no one would underreact to the crisis. Overreaction would thus be inevitable, but a greater overreaction inflicts longer economic damage. Reacting sooner is better, but overreacting sooner may not be. I think Trudeau in Canada has done a reasonably good job all things considered. But in 1-4 weeks we will better be able to look at this. ---
**Author:** ![Lubricious\_Integument](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/82dd89/32.png) [@Lubricious\_Integument](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lubricious_Integument)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2020, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/effective-elected-leaders-and-those-who-arent-in-dealing-with-pandemic/849961/13 "2020-03-22T00:28:50Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Indiana is doing surprisingly well. For a state where many voters reject science and experts, our governor is taking the issue seriously. I agree Eric Holcomb is doing well and would like to add Andy Beshear from Kentucky to the list. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2020, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/effective-elected-leaders-and-those-who-arent-in-dealing-with-pandemic/849961/14 "2020-03-22T00:36:19Z")
The Australian Prime Minster is a “glass half full” guy, kinda of close to being a “prosperity gospel” guy. He personally believes that things are gonna turn out ok, and that a little faith in the government and in the invisible hand of the market is a good thing. And he is mostly correct: it is known that adults are mostly sub-optimally pessimistic, and that we tend towards better outcomes if we take larger risks. Unless it all goes to shit. So he’s doing ok, but they should have started small restrictions and reduced overseas travel much earlier, and it’s hard not to think that his general “she’ll be right mate” approach has contributed to the present 1000+ case load in Australia. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2020, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/effective-elected-leaders-and-those-who-arent-in-dealing-with-pandemic/849961/15 "2020-03-22T00:51:05Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > I think Trudeau in Canada has done a reasonably good job all things considered. But in 1-4 weeks we will better be able to look at this. Comparing the Canadian and US responses makes me glad to have reasonable people running things here. The difference in tone between the professionalism of Canada and Trump’s whiny, blame-everyone-but-him, “Can’t someone _else_ do it?” routine is stark. Hell, even Doug Ford, whom I usually cannot stand, has been making the right calls. Trump is so bad, he’s making Ford look like a genius in comparison. ---
**Author:** ![sps49sd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@sps49sd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sps49sd)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2020, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/effective-elected-leaders-and-those-who-arent-in-dealing-with-pandemic/849961/16 "2020-03-22T00:54:01Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Can we please stop the **xenophobic** “lying about their figures” crap. It’s basically impossible to hide a large group of sick people. That doesn’t prevent the Chinese Communist Party from trying. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2020, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/effective-elected-leaders-and-those-who-arent-in-dealing-with-pandemic/849961/17 "2020-03-22T01:08:04Z")
I think Gavin Newsom is doing a good job. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2020, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/effective-elected-leaders-and-those-who-arent-in-dealing-with-pandemic/849961/18 "2020-03-22T01:16:20Z")
Nevada Gov. Sisolak isn’t doing a _bad_ job, but he should have shut down gatherings before ConExpo/ConAg brought 100k+ people to Las Vegas for a week. As it is, the show shut down a day early, but by then, the damage was prolly already done. IMO he was never supposed to be more than a figurehead/placeholder tho, so I suppose this is the best he could hope to do. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2020, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/effective-elected-leaders-and-those-who-arent-in-dealing-with-pandemic/849961/19 "2020-03-22T01:17:40Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > Holy Shit. > > I’m so glad I wasn’t in that room. ikr Mayor Triolo can go suck on a tailpipe. Commissioner Hardy totally fucking rocks, tho. ---
**Author:** ![Cell\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@Cell\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cell_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2020, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/effective-elected-leaders-and-those-who-arent-in-dealing-with-pandemic/849961/20 "2020-03-22T01:29:21Z")
I’ve been impressed with J.B. Pritzker and I say that as one who did not vote for him. He’s made tough decisions, explained his thought process and then stood by those decisions. He was one of the first governors to call out the Trump Administration and their lack of leadership… The only thing he hasn’t done is found a way to levy a new tax around this whole thing. I’m sure he’s working on that as we speak. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/effective-elected-leaders-and-those-who-arent-in-dealing-with-pandemic/849961.md?page=2)