Hurricane Sandy Pushes Aside Presidential Politics

Hurricane Sandy, which struck the East Coast Monday night, threw the Eastern Seaboard into chaos. The states that were hit include New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Washington D.C., and more.

Due to the path that Hurricane Sandy followed, campaigning for the Presidential Election was put on hold one week before the presidential election.

President Barack Obama cancelled all campaign stops and events and flew back to the White House on Monday night. President Obama will be spending his day holding briefings and surveying the damage that has been done in the East Coast. He held a conference call with the governors and mayors of the states that were affected by Sandy.

Governor Chris Christie, Republican governor of New Jersey, praised the president for his efforts and response to the natural disaster. He stated, "It's been very good working with the president. He and his administration have been coordinating with us. It's been wonderful." Many Republicans expressed their dismay with Governor Christie for heavily praising the president a week before the election.

Mitt Romney also cancelled his campaign events to host a storm relief event in Ohio. The relief event was held in the same place where Romney had planned to hold a campaign rally. The 2,000 attendees were asked to bring canned goods to help with the emergency efforts for the East Coast.

This article was originally published on October 30, 2012, in the New York Times. The authors are Michael Barbaro and Michael D. Shear. This article was bias toward President Obama. Although the article spoke on both presidential candidates, President Obama was placed in a more positive light.