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I read an article on Time, entitled: Liberal Group Blames Republicans for Ebola in New ad.

“I think any Republican who attempts to chalk this ad up to politics is a Republican who is too afraid to examine the results of his of her actions and the very real consequences that they have,” she said. “They have developed a governing philosophy that is so fanatically anti-investment that they literally have at their doorstop death.

But I don't know what "at their doorstop death" means.
Is there anyone kind enough to tell me?

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  • I think there's a typo. It should be doorstep
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Nov 5, 2014 at 9:42
  • Could you cite the article, and if possible add the link, please. Thanks.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Nov 5, 2014 at 9:43
  • the link ishttp://time.com/3502108/ebola-2014-republicans/
    – Stephen
    Commented Nov 5, 2014 at 9:48
  • Thanks for the link, it was helpful. Please, edit your question and post the link.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Nov 5, 2014 at 10:09

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Part of the difficulty in comprehension comes if you think that the writer has used the expression 'doorstep death'. There is no such expression. The sentence should be read as:

"They have developed a governing philosophy that is so fanatically anti-investment that they literally have (at their doorstep) death."

Or, more naturally:

"They have developed a governing philosophy that is so fanatically anti-investment that they literally have death at their doorstep.

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    I think "death" is left to the end to be dramatic. It's possibly a format from horror film trailers and posters, and similar sources: "They thought they had opened the door to their dream house, but they found at their doorstep ... DEATH" etc.
    – Stuart F
    Commented Nov 28, 2022 at 14:31
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“They have developed a governing philosophy that is so fanatically anti-investment that they literally have at their doorstop death. There is no exaggeration in this.

First of all, I believe doorstop is a typo, it should be spelled doorstep; the step leading to or the threshold of one's home.

The above phrase suggests that it is a variation of the theme, at death's door, used especially in those instances when a person falls gravely ill and could die from one day to the next.

It can also be used to emphasize and exaggerate the possibility of death that one may or might have faced, a sort of hyperbole.

at death's door
very near the end of one's life. (Often an exaggeration.)
e.g. I was so ill that I was at death's door for three days.

In the Time article, the president of the Agenda Project Action Fund, Erica Payne, is accusing the Republican Party of cutting fund research for the Ebola vaccine during the "10-year slide". Consequently, she claims that the Party's inactivity is responsible for the Ebola crisis that is currently on the verge (at the doorstep) of striking the US.

Sources: The Free Dictionary and Time.com

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    A door stop is a device for stopping a door swinging so far that it damages paintwork or other fixings. It's possibly a malapropism or typo for "doorstep", but it's also something you find next to a door, so it makes sense as a metaphor.
    – Stuart F
    Commented Nov 28, 2022 at 14:30

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