The Hamilton County Republican Party usually leaves toxicity to its Democratic opponents, but the group's annual Lincoln Day Dinner last week brought the threat of the COVID-19 virus to the 400 to 500 who were there after an attendee tested positive for the illness.
It is easy to say in hindsight, but though it is an annual fundraiser and though it is a critical election year, the GOP faithful should have sought other ways to raise funds or held an outside gathering where the threat of exposure would have been lower and social distancing easier.
Bill Hagerty and Dr. Manny Sethi, the party's leading contenders for the United States Senate seat being vacated by the retiring Lamar Alexander, attended. They, like many others there, were photographed without wearing masks. Spokespersons for both campaigns said they either have been tested or would be tested.
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Research has proven the virus is more easily spread indoors at gatherings where people have close contact and that the threat of exposure is even greater if the people attending the event do not wear masks.
State Sen. Todd Gardenhire, R-Chattanooga, said in a Facebook post he'd "been asked several times, sometimes with a lot of malice," if he attended the dinner. He said he did not, citing three previous exposures to the virus, requiring him and his wife to quarantine themselves "for a total of 6 weeks." However, he said he had tested negative each time.
The two-term legislator, who is running for his third term this fall, said people over the age of 70 account for 6% of positive cases but 61% of all deaths. Further, he said in any crowd of more than 25 people, a 70% chance exists that someone in the crowd has the COVID-19 virus.
Gardenhire, 72, said most of the local legislative delegation paid for a table to support the party but did not attend.
Roger Layne, who said on Gardenhire's Facebook page that he attended the event, said officials took the temperature of every attendee at the door and that no one was allowed in with a fever. He also said all attendees signed a waiver to hold the party harmless if they contracted the virus.
Of course, temperature checks don't detect those with the virus who are asymptomatic, and waivers protect no one from the illness except the group they are attempting to indemnify.
We may never know how many attendees test positive from the event, but we hope all those who are considering holding indoor events with large crowds until the virus is tamed will rethink - or revise - their decisions.
Similarly, we are unlikely to ever know how many people tested positive from protests and riots following the May death of George Floyd from the excessive force of a Minneapolis police officer. Since the worldview of the national media is the same as those of protesters and rioters, they are not invested in seeking out and reporting such information.
However, reports in large cities are beginning to filter out.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer, for instance, both acknowledged a link between the events.
The mayor, after initially saying there was no conclusive evidence linking the protests and the spread of the virus, acknowledged "we do believe there is a connection."
Ferrer, for her part, said, "It's highly likely given the increased numbers that we're seeing that some of this is in fact people who have been in a crowded situation at one of the protests where there was a spread."
Experts in San Antonio, Texas, said it's likely that 1% to 5% of participants were likely infected from protests there without showing symptoms, creating a risk of further transmission.
In Portland, Oregon, which has seen protests and rioting for several months, the latest demographics from the Oregon Health Authority show the virus has infected young adults ages 20-29 - the prime age for protesters - more than any other age category.
However, even though the rate of positive virus cases is highest in many places across the country for those in the prime protest age, their death rates are much lower. So it is harder to conclusively connect their acquisition of the virus to the protests and riots.
Far be it for us to tell the Hamilton County Republican Party its business, but, as an aside to the Lincoln Day dinner, we believe the party needs to return to the days when it was hungry for voters. Though the party holds every county constitutional office, six of the seven members of the state legislative delegation, the 3rd District congressional seat and the two U.S. Senate seats, it seems more complacent locally than we think wise.
Democrats are not likely to pick off any member of the local legislative delegation this fall, but their appeal to low-information voters in local, state and national races - and the voters' willingness to accept what they are fed - indicate Republicans can no longer rest on their laurels.
Thursday's election results may give them some clues.