# Romney Policy Position: Vows to combat Lyme Disease **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 28, 2012, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-policy-position-vows-to-combat-lyme-disease/636192 "2012-09-28T22:48:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Enkel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/df705f/32.png) [@Enkel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enkel)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-policy-position-vows-to-combat-lyme-disease/636192/1 "2012-09-28T22:48:16Z")
> [@](#): > > “I applaud your work to bring attention to the need to address Lyme Disease, which is the most common vector-borne disease in the United States,” Romney wrote. “Clearly this disease is spreading throughout the nation. More needs to be done. As president, I will work to ensure that more attention is focused on this important issue.” > **[Mitt Romney Pledges To Control Epidemic 'Wreaking Havoc' On Northern Virigina](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/mitt-romney-lyme-disease-virginia-voters_n_1923885)** > > Mitt Romney Pledges To Control Epidemic 'Wreaking Havoc' On Northern Virigina I for one am glad that Romney isn’t spending time telling us about his proposed tax policies or approach to the Middle East. I’m glad that he isn’t taking the Senata bait to stop those jobs from being sent to China ( [Mitt Romney Reaped Huge Tax Benefits Based On 'Active' Role At Bain Capital | HuffPost Latest News](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/26/romney-bain-taxes_n_1828816.html) ) and I’m grateful that the next time the car industry has problems, they’ll be allowed to go bankrupt. (Not to be confused with Wall Street and big oil who need all the tax payer help we can muster) It is far more important that he combat the scourge that is Lyme Disease with more of what they’re already doing to combat Lyme Disease. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-policy-position-vows-to-combat-lyme-disease/636192/2 "2012-09-28T23:07:31Z")
I am thrilled that he has taken such a principled stand on an issue with such moral ambiguity as disease prevention. Next from the Romney team: No shoes, no shirt, no service… and we _mean it!_ ---
**Author:** ![ataraxy22](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ataraxy22/32/307_2.png) [@ataraxy22](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ataraxy22)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-policy-position-vows-to-combat-lyme-disease/636192/3 "2012-09-28T23:16:41Z")
Vector-borne?! All diseases except genetic diseases are “vector-borne”! ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-policy-position-vows-to-combat-lyme-disease/636192/4 "2012-09-28T23:19:29Z")
So Romney is going to spend more \*\*\*government \*\*\*money funding Lyme Disease research??? He’s just another big-government liberal after all. Or is he just going to hold press conferences all the time saying, “Lyme disease is a serious threat to our nation.” In which case, he’ll be a big do-nothing president. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-policy-position-vows-to-combat-lyme-disease/636192/5 "2012-09-28T23:20:20Z")
Down with vectors! ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-policy-position-vows-to-combat-lyme-disease/636192/6 "2012-09-28T23:22:27Z")
> [@ataraxy22](#): > > Vector-borne?! All diseases except genetic diseases are “vector-borne”! Absolutely not true whatsoever. The common cold, flu, STDs, etc., are not vector-borne. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-policy-position-vows-to-combat-lyme-disease/636192/7 "2012-09-28T23:28:23Z")
What would be funny is if Obama had made this statement about fighting Lyme Disease. Then Romney would have to be in favor of protecting it: “I condemn the president’s continuing prejudice against innocent viruses. I pledge to protect Lyme disease and set up special farms where it can live in peace.” Fox news would have a telethon to make sure more people got Lyme Disease. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-policy-position-vows-to-combat-lyme-disease/636192/8 "2012-09-28T23:52:21Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > Absolutely not true whatsoever. The common cold, flu, STDs, etc., are not vector-borne. I would think that not all vectors are ticks or mosquitoes and “someone else” would be the vector in those cases, but IANAI. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2012, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-policy-position-vows-to-combat-lyme-disease/636192/9 "2012-09-29T00:35:42Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > Absolutely not true whatsoever. The common cold, flu, STDs, etc., are not vector-borne. ??? The spray of mucus from the nostrils of the school kid next door isn’t a vector? What is the term for this mode of disease transmission? As in so many cases, it seems there are two kinds of terms involved: technical jargon, which is precise, but sometimes counterintuitive, and everyday common language, which sometimes fails to be proper and precise. I was talking politics once with a nice chap who kept using “got the nomination” when he really meant “won the primary.” To someone who doesn’t pay really close attention to primary elections, the two may seem the same, but they really aren’t. Another friend refuses to accept that “the recession is over.” Well, okay, times are hard, and lots of people are unemployed, but, formally, by the economics definition, the recession was over the first time the economy grew over the period of one reporting month. So, if a kid’s sneezes aren’t really a “vector,” I’ll buy that. But you’ve got to do your part and tell us why. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2012, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-policy-position-vows-to-combat-lyme-disease/636192/10 "2012-09-29T00:39:58Z")
> [@ataraxy22](#): > > Vector-borne?! All diseases except genetic diseases are “vector-borne”! I don’t think most cancers are genetic or vector-borne. Lung cancer caused by smoking, for example. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2012, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-policy-position-vows-to-combat-lyme-disease/636192/11 "2012-09-29T01:14:43Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > So, if a kid’s sneezes aren’t really a “vector,” I’ll buy that. But you’ve got to do your part and tell us why. I’m not a biologist, but a vector borne disease is one in which the disease-causing agent (a virus or bacteria for example) is carried by one organism to another, where an important part of the reproduction cycle of the disease-causing agent occurs within the vector. So, vector borne diseases are things that are carried from one person to the next by another organism. For example, Malaria is not _caused_ by mosquitos, but they carry the disease. A kid sneezing on someone is not an example of a vector borne disease because the kid is directly transferring the disease causing agent from one person to the next, with no vector stage in between. Besides, if all colds and flus were vector-borne diseases, Lyme disease would NOT be the number 1 most prevalent Vector Borne Disease in the United States (which it unambiguously is). ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2012, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-policy-position-vows-to-combat-lyme-disease/636192/12 "2012-09-29T01:29:03Z")
a vector is an organism that spreads a disease from one organism to another. a human can infect another human with no other organism involved. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2012, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-policy-position-vows-to-combat-lyme-disease/636192/13 "2012-09-29T01:31:20Z")
How [the CDC](http://www.cdc.gov/ncezid/dvbd/) uses the term “vector-borne”: > [@](#): > > The Division of Vector-Borne Diseases (DVBD) strives to protect the nation from bacterial and viral diseases transmitted by mosquitoes, ticks and fleas. ---
**Author:** ![Enkel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/df705f/32.png) [@Enkel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enkel)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2012, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-policy-position-vows-to-combat-lyme-disease/636192/14 "2012-09-29T02:07:23Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > How [the CDC](http://www.cdc.gov/ncezid/dvbd/) uses the term “vector-borne”: > > > [@](#): > > > > The Division of Vector-Borne Diseases (DVBD) strives to protect the nation from bacterial and viral diseases transmitted by mosquitoes, ticks and fleas. Okay, not that is just plain vector discrimination. As far as I’m concerned, in my universe, under-age humans are the number one carriers of vector-borne diseases each and every year. Now, they get no credit for their contribution to the OTC pharmacy economy? Well, I never! Clearly this is just another case of Romney elitism against short humans. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2012, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-policy-position-vows-to-combat-lyme-disease/636192/15 "2012-09-29T02:07:50Z")
> [@Richard\_Parker](#): > > Down with vectors! Up with scalars! Wait, that doesn’t work. ---
**Author:** ![Enkel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/df705f/32.png) [@Enkel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enkel)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2012, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-policy-position-vows-to-combat-lyme-disease/636192/16 "2012-09-29T02:11:26Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > I’m not a biologist, but a vector borne disease is one in which the disease-causing agent (a virus or bacteria for example) is carried by one organism to another, where an important part of the reproduction cycle of the disease-causing agent occurs within the vector. Do children not sweat, wheeze and snivel, passing on viruses the the next kid to do the same so that viruses can mutate at each stop into new and stronger viruses so that by the end of flu season we have a super bug capable of taking out a vegan marathon runner at peak of health? ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2012, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-policy-position-vows-to-combat-lyme-disease/636192/17 "2012-09-29T02:46:18Z")
I don’t mind Romney saying he’ll work to fight lyme disease, but his mailer is like a spoof off of vague marketroid blather. I can’t remember the last time I heard a non-ironic use of the word “synergy”. (Lyme disease is a fairly big deal in Mass., and Romney was involved in the issue while governor, so I imagine that’s where this is coming from) ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2012, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-policy-position-vows-to-combat-lyme-disease/636192/18 "2012-09-29T02:50:24Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > Up with scalars! > > Wait, that doesn’t work. Works fine. Scalars are going up all the time… ---
**Author:** ![Precambrianmollusc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/precambrianmollusc/32/63_2.png) [@Precambrianmollusc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Precambrianmollusc)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2012, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-policy-position-vows-to-combat-lyme-disease/636192/19 "2012-09-29T03:09:43Z")
> [@Nametag](#): > > Works fine. Scalars are going up all the time… I think Romney is just tying to Stokes up some irrotational attitudes and curl one down on Obama, frankly Romney is being a div. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2012, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-policy-position-vows-to-combat-lyme-disease/636192/20 "2012-09-29T03:10:21Z")
So what’s a vector, Victor? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-policy-position-vows-to-combat-lyme-disease/636192.md?page=2)