As we enter the school year and the coming of cooler weather in the next month in much of the country, the danger of a Swine Flu pandemic sends out alarm bells to all of us, including the Obama Administration.
This is an issue, that should the pandemic result in reality, will be a political loser for President Obama if the vaccine is in inadequate supply or does not succeed in lessening the number of people who would be taken sick, and also the number of deaths that would evolve.
If the vaccine turns out to be ineffective or actually causes other health problems in the population, as has happened at times in the past, then it will promote a feeling again that the government is inept, unable to deal with a crisis.
So just as Hurricane Katrina undermined the reputation of George W. Bush, the likelihood exists that even with great preparation by the Obama Administration, the President could still suffer in public opinion, and it could have an effect on the midterm elections of 2010 and even the Presidential campaign of 2012.
So we are facing a health crisis likely in the making, and the concurrent political fallout that could develop. The hope is that we will discover that we over prepared, rather than under prepared.