Holcomb Logic on COVID Hard to Follow

Eric Holcomb
Photo courtesy State of Indiana

There was a time early on in the 2020 campaign where I actually considered voting for Eric Holcomb.

I know, it's hard to believe, but I was impressed with how Governor Holcomb handled the early days of the pandemic. His steady and principled leadership carried Hoosiers through the early part of this nightmare, and he stuck to his guns early when challenged by those to his far right on pandemic policy.

As the days and months went on, other factors proved that my early feelings of support for the Governor were misplaced. The Governor opened the state too quickly last summer, and we saw an even bigger surge start in the fall that reached its peak in December and January.

Governor Holcomb danced on a line last year. He had a strong Libertarian challenge to his right on COVID policy and a Democratic opponent who was an actual medical doctor. Still, he had plenty of loyal Republican support to coast to an easy victory in 2020. 

Now, he's seen the Indiana General Assembly take swipes at his powers as Governor because of the perceived job he's done managing COVID-19. The far right believes the Governor has been too stringent with his mask mandate and his public health measures against businesses, churches and public events. So, there's now a controversial effort to change the Governor's ability to put in public health measures with the emergency powers granted by the Indiana Constitution. It's an effort that's likely going to end up in court because even if Holcomb vetoes legislation limiting the powers of the Governor, the Indiana General Assembly only needs a majority to override the veto. 

So, that brings us to last week. Governor Holcomb, under attack from the far right, ended Indiana's mask mandate effective on April 6. This comes with less than 20 percent of Hoosiers completely vaccinated against the virus. While the number of vaccinated and completely vaccinated Hoosiers climbs daily, so are COVID-19 cases.

Just today, Indiana went back into the thousands in new cases. It's nosing upward again, and Holcomb is sticking to his decision to put the local governments in charge of masking regulations and public health policies to prevent the spread of the virus. The GOP-led General Assembly now is trying to amend bills to take that ability away from local officials like Marion County Health Commissioner Dr. Virginia Caine and Mayor Joe Hogsett.

So, let's get down to it. What Governor Holcomb is doing makes zero sense. President Joe Biden is begging state governors to not end mask mandates. Neighboring states like Kentucky are making the same plea. Holcomb isn't budging. 

Makes you wonder why. I mean, I suppose he's possibly going on principle as he sees it that the numbers and positivity rates are down, but he was slow to react to the rising cases in the fall. It appears he's content to do the same thing again. Apparently his ever-present "road map" to beating the virus doesn't learn from previous wrong turns. 

Holcomb doesn't have another election for Governor to run. He has a General Assembly that's out of control with a weak first-year Speaker that's hellbent on undercutting his authority. That's not going to change with any concessions he makes. He has every reason to come down on the side of science and health policy, but he's not doing it. He's content to watch a fourth surge race against the rate of vaccinations. Is he angling for his next move politically? As Governor, what he's doing makes no sense.

I'm fully vaccinated, and I'm glad because I have no idea why Governor Holcomb is doing what he's doing. I fear it's going to lead to more Hoosiers becoming victims of this nasty virus.