The U.S. military has no business being in West Africa to deal with the Ebola crisis and President Barack Obama should immediately ban travel to Ebola-stricken nations, according to Rob Maness, a GOP candidate for the U.S. Senate from Louisiana.
“It's a gross misuse of our capability, limited resources and the president really needs to rethink that,” Maness said during an appearance Monday on
Newsmax TV's “America’s Forum.”
“He also needs to get on board with what (Louisiana) Gov. Bobby Jindal called for late last week, early this weekend, which is put a quarantine on travel from the countries where Ebola has broken out. We've already gotten the one case here and now we're bringing a cameraman back home to treat him. We need to be better prepared for this situation.”
Maness called for the elimination of travel to and from West Africa with the limited exception of public health personnel, who Maness said should be in the region instead of the military.
The tea party conservative credits stumping on his behalf by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for a boost in the polls.
“She's made our race her number one priority for November 4 because she sees the fight once again not only with the progressives in the Democratic Party but with the establishment leadership in the GOP,” he said.
“So I have two opponents, Sen. Landrieu and (U.S. Rep. Bill Cassidy) of the establishment GOP,” he said. “(Palin’s) come in several times now and the latest was just last weekend as you just brought up. Her name recognition is very high here and popularity is very high across this red state. We're very grateful to get her help.”
Louisiana has an open primary, sometimes referred to as a “jungle primary,” where all candidates for the same elected office, regardless of political party, run against each other.
While the Republican establishment has supported Cassidy, Maness says he’s confident he will prevail in November.
“The people in Louisiana are sounding out loud and clear and Team Maness Army is on the march and we're going to win on Nov. 4 to get into the runoff so we can beat Mary Landrieu,” he said.
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