Dirty Tricks

I came across a political cartoon on the website for The Week that purports to describe "How to get Red America vaccinated." It shows President Biden (conveniently labeled in case the caricature isn't clear) standing at a podium marked with the Seal of the Office of the President and surrounded by journalists with microphone, cell phones and video cameras. "Vaccines are bad," the President says.

Part of the problem with political cartooning is that one is never sure of the apparent point is serious or not. But, assuming that what one sees is what is intended, this piece by Bill Bramhall is off the mark, because it misunderstands the nature of the partisan divide.

President Biden saying that vaccines are bad is unlikely to spur reluctant Republicans to take them, even if President Trump's anti-vaccine stance moved Democratic-leaning voters to receive shots. At this point, it would be seen as an admission that the Biden Administration had been acting in bad faith when it sought t increase vaccination rates.

Were I to counsel President Biden on a means to spur residents of Red states to seek out the vaccine, I would suggest withdrawing it from their communities completely. Vaccines for Blue America only. The idea would be to give the impression that President Biden was willing to sacrifice Republican voters while protecting Democrats. (Some intentionally "clumsy" attempts to "hide" infection and death statistics in such areas might also help.) If Republican voters came to understand that the Biden Administration was moving against them in this way, it would not only push them to see out the vaccine, but would give Republican lawmakers cover to urge their supports to receive shots. It's also more or less a given that President Trump would take the bait, especially given that his administration funded the R&D for the vaccines in the first place. And with him telling his supporters that the Biden Administration was out to get them by withholding life-saving vaccines, it's a safe bet that they would ignore his earlier opposition and seek out shots.

Not that any of this would be remotely ethical, of course. But then again, the President badmouthing vaccines wouldn't be, either.