To varying degrees, politicians view national crises through the prism of their own profession. Their instinct is to use every crisis to shape their political personae. The hope: that the crisis will empower them to win higher offices.
Now, consider the fact that many of the politicians making the biggest coronavirus-related news are the same who are expected to run for president in 2024. In telling their residents to stay indoors indefinitely, Govs. Gavin Newsom of California and Andrew Cuomo of New York are presenting themselves as heirs to Winston Churchill.
Cuomo said his new restrictions “will be enforced. These are not helpful hints.” The tough language might have been somewhat stronger had Cuomo not refused a lockdown just a day earlier, even disparaging New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio in the process.
It’s not just Democrats playing this game. Take the popular Maryland governor and oft-talked-of 2024 GOP hopeful Larry Hogan. Hogan was one of the first to order major restrictions on freedom of movement and commerce.
Also this week, President Trump’s former U.N. ambassador, Nikki Haley, made a big play of resigning from the board of Boeing. “I cannot support a move to lean on the federal government for a stimulus or bailout that prioritizes our company over others and relies on taxpayers to guarantee our financial position,” Haley said, concluding with a pitch to 2024 voters, “I have long held strong convictions that this is not the role of government.”
Don’t get me wrong: This is part and parcel of American politics. And in some sense, it is very pure: that our politicians are so obsessed with earning voter favor stands in stark contrast with those of other nations, such as China, who don’t care at all what the public thinks.
Still, I don’t think these three politicians’ extreme responses can be detached from their political ambitions. We don’t yet know how badly the coronavirus pandemic will affect our nation. Nor do we know whether the effective national lockdown now underway will bear the dividends we hope for. The key is that we need more data. With more data, we can make more informed choices. And that’s why most governors are proceeding more cautiously than these three. They know that more extreme responses carry very high economic and social costs in return for indeterminate health benefits.
Perhaps Cuomo, Hogan, and Newsom are taking the right actions, perhaps not. But the 2024 political angle here is one worth noting.
