Praise for Obama as he returns to poll campaign

 
p20 President Barack Obama meets with a local resident at the Brigantine Beach Community Center in Brigantine, NJ., Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2012. Obama traveled to Atlantic Coast to see first-hand the relief efforts after Superstorm Sandy damage the Atlantic Coast.
AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais
David Gardner1 November 2012

President Obama was relaunching his election campaign today after putting it on ice for three days to focus all his attention on the superstorm that has devastated America’s East Coast.

After yesterday touring areas of New Jersey worst hit by Hurricane Sandy, the president had three campaign stops today in Nevada, Colorado and Wisconsin. He is planning to make up for lost time by visiting seven states by the weekend.

The massive storm has turned the election upside down, with Mitt Romney tentatively returning to the trail yesterday with two rallies in the battleground state of Florida.

But if he was hoping the president would trip up in his handling of the crisis, he was disappointed. Eight out of 10 voters in a Washington Post/ABC poll released last night gave Mr Obama an “excellent” or “good” rating for his leadership during the emergency.

With election day next Tuesday, the rivals were neck-and-neck in the opinion polls taken just before the storm struck. But some senior Republicans fear Mr Romney’s momentum has been blunted by the natural disaster that has left at least 64 dead, cut power to millions and paralysed much of the eastern United States.

They are also unhappy at New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s exuberant praise for Mr Obama during their meeting in front of the cameras yesterday. The blunt-talking governor said later that he “could not care less” about the election when so many of his constituents were in trouble.

At his rallies in Florida, Mr Romney veered away from personal attacks on the president. Both candidates will be careful not to become caught up in political squabbling when so many Americans are suffering hardship.

The chaotic aftermath of the storm has even sparked calls for the election to be postponed for a week to ensure voters can all get to the polls.

Although US constitutional experts thought this was highly unlikely, the sheer scale of the damage has raised serious questions over whether voting will be possible in some worst-hit areas.

It could take days to restore power to eight million homes and businesses — a major problem for districts relying on electronic voting machines. And

residents aren’t even being allowed to return to wrecked homes in parts of New Jersey and Long Island.

Asked if the president had the power to put off the election, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said he wasn’t sure. In fact, the date can only be changed by the US Congress or by individual states implementing emergency procedures.

The US Federal Emergency Management Agency said the storm’s impact could linger into next week and admitted this could affect the election.

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