STAT: Make science bipartisan again
Tom Daschle, former U.S. Senate majority leader (D-S.D.), founder and CEO of The Daschle Group, and cofounder of the Bipartisan Policy Center; Bill Frist, physician, former Senate majority leader (R-Tenn.), senior fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center, and a co-chair of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s work on health innovation; and Max G. Bronstein, founder of the Journal of Science Policy & Governance and principal at MGB Consulting

“The Biden-Harris administration faces daunting challenges. Chief among them is tackling the Covid-19 pandemic and bending the case curve. This challenge cannot be met, let alone overcome, without a national plan plus substantial new investment in public health, science, and technology. And it will require prioritizing science over politics. … Like so many parts of our culture, however, science has become polarized, with leaders from both parties struggling to agree on even basic facts and guidance relating to the pandemic. … Science can serve as the nonpartisan voice to navigate [a] middle-of-the-road approach. To help heal political divisions, elected officials should allow scientists and public health experts to be the key spokespersons on the pandemic. … We must allow science to be a nonpartisan messenger that advances the public health of Americans rather than a political agenda. … Science is uniquely positioned to help end the scourge of the pandemic and set us on a course to rebuild our economy. But getting there requires our political leaders to come together to prioritize and champion public health. We are seeing a tale of two Americas unfold, dramatically hampering our ability to effectively respond to the Covid-19 pandemic. We hope leaders of both parties will work together to bring our nation back to a more unified, healthy, and secure future” (12/3).