With all the money, time and effort the two major candidateshave expended in this interminable presidential election campaign, they forgotto lobby the one voter who really counts right about now: Mother Nature.Hurricane Sandy targeted the Eastern seaboard, disrupting the campaign,suspending early voting and threatening massive and extended power outages.
After causing misery in the Caribbean, the storm buffetedthe crucial state of Florida before heading directly for the country’smidsection. The government shut down in Washington, DC, the stock exchange didnot open in New York City and transportation in New England was at astandstill. Dubbed “Frankenstorm” because of its monstrous proportions, Sandycame on the eve of the Halloween holiday. It could also throw a very largespanner into the works of the presidential election.
Pundits were already hoarse speculating on the effect thehurricane would have on the election. Not surprisingly, there are two schoolsof thought. The storm will almost certainly benefit President Barack Obama, saysome observers. Others are equally convinced that Sandy is a windfall for MittRomney.
Both candidates have had to put on the brakes. The pairsuspended their campaign "Out of sensitivity for the millions of Americansin the path of Hurricane Sandy,” according to Romney campaign communicationsdirector Gail Gitcho. "Governor Romney believes this is a time for thenation and its leaders to come together to focus on those Americans who are inharms way," said Gitcho in a statement issued by the campaign.
Obama has left the campaign trail altogether, cancellingevents in Florida, Ohio and Colorado and heading back to Washington. Thoseeager for a second Obama term insist that his prompt response will make himlook presidential, and remind voters just who is in charge. Others point toanother major storm that dented the reputation of Obama’s predecessor: George WBush’s reputation took quite a beating after his administration was seen to beslow in responding to Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Presidents are always faulted for not doing enough, thethinking goes, and those slammed by the storm will be looking for someone toblame. Romney’s campaign will be doing its best to counteract the president’scentral position in storm control. But the problems are also more concrete, andmore immediate.
Several states, including Maryland and the District ofColumbia, have suspended early voting. Even in states where voting continues,the weather may make it more challenging for voters, particularly the elderly,to get to the polls.
Early voting is traditionally thought to benefit theDemocrats, and it is unclear how a truncation of early voting days may affectthe race. The Republican challenger has to be careful not to seem to beexploiting the storm for personal political gain. Any attempt to criticise thepresident prematurely will doubtless backfire.
The Romney campaign has had bad luck with hurricanes: Isaacstole headlines and attention from the Republican National Convention in Tampathis August, and Sandy will almost certainly overshadow election events for thenext few days.
So, the campaign could be frozen in place at thisparticularly delicate juncture. Polls are all over the map, showing Obama up insome states, Romney up in others, but the overall contest is a dead heat. So much for Mother Nature’s “Octobersurprise.” Surely a nice juicy scandal would have been preferable?
