Apparently it takes Ebola to cancel an Obama fundraiser - so is it politics or genuine concern?

Barack Obama didn't cancel his Las Vegas fundraisers the day after Benghazi. Barack Obama didn't cancel fundraisers due to the border crisis. Barack Obama hasn't canceled fundraisers as the ISIS debacle continues to unfold.

Now, he's done the unthinkable. Today Barack Obama abruptly changed his schedule and cancelled fundraising events in New Jersey and Connecticut. He was supposed to raise money for Dems seeking re-election in November, but that will have to wait. White House Communications Director Jennifer Palmieri once famously told the New York Times that the President doesn't like to do this because he doesn't want to upset average American people - all of whom evidently base their emotional state around his fundraising habits.

“It is rarely a good idea to return to the White House just for show, when the situation can be handled responsibly from the road,” said Jennifer Palmieri, the White House communications director. “Abrupt changes to his schedule can have the unintended consequence of unduly alarming the American people or creating a false sense of crisis.”

This time, it seems, the crisis is big enough that they aren't worried that you'll get a "false sense." They want to get on top of the situation, and political fundraisers just aren't as important. ...At least, they're certainly hoping you'll see it that way.

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If there's one thing that's become perfectly clear it's that for Obama, everything is political

The problem is, after six years, everyone knows who Obama is. If there's one thing that's become perfectly clear it's that for him, everything is political. It's doubtful that he gives a damn about a "false sense" of crisis. He didn't cancel previous fundraisers because he felt the issues at the time weren't doing enough political damage to supersede the Dems constant need for campaign cash. Let's face it. There could be an army of honest-to-God zombies shuffling down 5th Avenue and, as long as there was no personal political impact, Obama would keep fundraising. In fact, you'd probably get a letter which contained something like the following:

"Clearly, the obstructionist Republicans in Congress have exacerbated the Zombie outbreak by failing to pass comprehensive global warming and immigration initiatives. Time is running out. Please, send the GOP a message by sending us five dollars. Sincerely, Debbie Wasserman Schultz"

So why has Obama pulled the fundraising plug this time? Well, this time things are a little bit different. He could use the border crisis to attack Republicans as racist and insensitive, ISIS was half a world away, and - in the case of Benghazi - he was forced to maintain normal appearances as part of the effort to sell the Youtube lie. None of that applies here. With Ebola, the sense of crisis is already palpable Whether Washington thinks its a legitimate crisis or not, the American people do. That's problematic for the party in power. It's happening here at home, there's no one for the President to blame, and - if Dems appear blasé about a potential outbreak - it will decimate their already meager midterm hopes. So, whether he really is or not, it has to at least look like Obama's doing something to help. The problem he faces now is one of confidence. Obama spent the entirety of his administration cementing the American people's belief that their government is made up of unreliable boobs. Failure after failure - from foreign policy to immigration to the ObamaCare launch - has squandered what little remained of the country's faith in its "leaders." He can talk all he likes. He can tell us that the CDC has things under control, and he can urge us not to freak out. But, given his administration's disastrous track record, why would any clear thinking person believe him?