The power of state and local governments

I suggested in my last post that while the federal government was fumbling their coronavirus response badly, state and local governments, being closer to the people, were likely to respond better.  Evidence thus far seems to back that up.  New York and Washington states have moved aggressively and quickly to stem the tide of infections, and my own state of New Mexico, which got its first case a few days ago, has also moved with commendable speed. Schools are closed, people are told to work from home, meetings and events banned, aggressive testing is going on (within the constraints of the available testing kits and facilities).

The media focuses on the federal response, perhaps because so many of the journalists live in Washington, but this battle will really be fought and won (or lost) at the state and local level.  And if we succeed in containing this pandemic, it will be the state and local leaders who deserve the credit, not the president or Congress (though not doubt they will try to take the credit).