Hurricane Sandy and the Election of 2012
Of all of the things that might have an impact on the outcome of the 2012 election, I'll bet that the campaigns of President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney never counted on Hurricane Sandy being one of them. The storm has had an impact on the presidential campaign, canceling some early voting and disrupting campaign events in battleground states, with just a week to go before the day of the vote.
It was a tricky situation for both President Obama and Governor Romney as their respective campaigns have had to figure out the political calculus of dealing with this storm.
Some pundits feel that Romney in in the more difficult role as challenger, trying to maintain his momentum without appearing to take unfair advantage of the situation. At first, he planned to press ahead with his campaign events, but later he decided to cancel most of them for the duration of the storm.
The storm gives President Obama somewhat of a respite, after he had made himself hoarse at rallies last week. He canceled an appearance in Orlando with former president Bill Clinton, returned to Washington, convened a storm briefing in the White House situation room and then addressed the nation.
Today, the White House said that the President would stay off of the campaign trail for today and tomorrow, candelling events in the critical state of Ohio. The Obama campaign convened a conference call to say that the president’s victory is inevitable, while Romney aides cited newspaper endorsements of their candidate as evidence of his momentum in Ohio.
Obama's campaign is concerned about getting their supporters to the polls for early voting, a key part of their strategy. In the Washington DC region, early voting was suspended in the District and in Maryland. In Virginia, a battleground state, the storm forced the suspension of in-person absentee voting in 26 localities Monday, mostly in the heavily populated Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads regions. Some of the Virginia locations were open for business today, but some of those that remained shuttered were in Northern Virginia, the part of the state thought to be strongest for President Obama.
Officials in Maryland said early voting would resume Wednesday, and polling stations would extend their hours and stay open for an additional day to make up for the time lost to the storm. A few places in North Carolina also closed down early voting because of the storm. But it continued unabated in Ohio, perhaps the biggest prize of all.
Yesterday the Romney campaign issued a statement saying that their candidate would keep a full schedule of events Monday in Ohio, Iowa and Wisconsin, and that Paul Ryan would as well. But later in the morning, the campaign canceled all of Romney’s rallies for Monday night. Today as he was about to begin his first event of the day at a high school in Ohio, Romney’s advisers said they were worried about what one of them called the “split-screen problem” — live images of him rallying enthusiastic supporters juxtaposed against images of devastation along the Eastern Seaboard.
At a rally in Iowa before his events were canceled, he struck a positive tone on the future of the country and made note of the storm, telling the crowd that “the damage will probably be significant” and urging supporters to donate to the American Red Cross. He added that he had spoken with the National Weather Service and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
President Obama’s campaign released a statement claiming that the President's victory is inevitable. His campaign manager Jim Messina said in a conference call with reporters: “What the facts and numbers clearly show is that the president is going to win this election.”
A Washington Post story contrasted the approaches of the respective campaigns as follows:
"For Obama, the storm’s challenge is a delicate one: to function as an effective commander in chief while waging a fight for his political life — and to avoid being seen as placing politics over the needs of storm-damaged areas and their residents.
"Romney also will need to respond to storm damage but avoid the appearance of exploiting it for political gain."
Post mortems will no doubt be held following the election as to whetehr or not this storm had any impact on the final results. In the meantime, I hope that any of you who are in the path of the storm stay safe.
It was a tricky situation for both President Obama and Governor Romney as their respective campaigns have had to figure out the political calculus of dealing with this storm.
Some pundits feel that Romney in in the more difficult role as challenger, trying to maintain his momentum without appearing to take unfair advantage of the situation. At first, he planned to press ahead with his campaign events, but later he decided to cancel most of them for the duration of the storm.
The storm gives President Obama somewhat of a respite, after he had made himself hoarse at rallies last week. He canceled an appearance in Orlando with former president Bill Clinton, returned to Washington, convened a storm briefing in the White House situation room and then addressed the nation.
Today, the White House said that the President would stay off of the campaign trail for today and tomorrow, candelling events in the critical state of Ohio. The Obama campaign convened a conference call to say that the president’s victory is inevitable, while Romney aides cited newspaper endorsements of their candidate as evidence of his momentum in Ohio.
Obama's campaign is concerned about getting their supporters to the polls for early voting, a key part of their strategy. In the Washington DC region, early voting was suspended in the District and in Maryland. In Virginia, a battleground state, the storm forced the suspension of in-person absentee voting in 26 localities Monday, mostly in the heavily populated Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads regions. Some of the Virginia locations were open for business today, but some of those that remained shuttered were in Northern Virginia, the part of the state thought to be strongest for President Obama.
Officials in Maryland said early voting would resume Wednesday, and polling stations would extend their hours and stay open for an additional day to make up for the time lost to the storm. A few places in North Carolina also closed down early voting because of the storm. But it continued unabated in Ohio, perhaps the biggest prize of all.
Yesterday the Romney campaign issued a statement saying that their candidate would keep a full schedule of events Monday in Ohio, Iowa and Wisconsin, and that Paul Ryan would as well. But later in the morning, the campaign canceled all of Romney’s rallies for Monday night. Today as he was about to begin his first event of the day at a high school in Ohio, Romney’s advisers said they were worried about what one of them called the “split-screen problem” — live images of him rallying enthusiastic supporters juxtaposed against images of devastation along the Eastern Seaboard.
At a rally in Iowa before his events were canceled, he struck a positive tone on the future of the country and made note of the storm, telling the crowd that “the damage will probably be significant” and urging supporters to donate to the American Red Cross. He added that he had spoken with the National Weather Service and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
President Obama’s campaign released a statement claiming that the President's victory is inevitable. His campaign manager Jim Messina said in a conference call with reporters: “What the facts and numbers clearly show is that the president is going to win this election.”
A Washington Post story contrasted the approaches of the respective campaigns as follows:
"For Obama, the storm’s challenge is a delicate one: to function as an effective commander in chief while waging a fight for his political life — and to avoid being seen as placing politics over the needs of storm-damaged areas and their residents.
"Romney also will need to respond to storm damage but avoid the appearance of exploiting it for political gain."
Post mortems will no doubt be held following the election as to whetehr or not this storm had any impact on the final results. In the meantime, I hope that any of you who are in the path of the storm stay safe.