Hurricane Sandy: Does it help President Obama politically?

The deadly storm has upended the presidential race — and given the incumbent a potential advantage just a week before Election Day

President Obama canceled campaign events Monday, and will monitor Hurricane Sandy from Washington, D.C.
(Image credit: Dennis Brack-Pool/Getty Images)

With Hurricane Sandy barreling toward the East Coast, the presidential campaign has been virtually put on hold. President Obama and Mitt Romney have both canceled appearances in the heavily contested swing state of Virginia, as well as in other states, and early voting pushes in eastern states will likely grind to a halt. There's a very real possibility that Sandy, a mutant Frankenstorm of seemingly epic proportions, could "warp an election two years and $2 billion in the making," says Peter Baker at The New York Times. And as the campaigns pause to readjust under the storm's shadow, there could be some huge political benefits for the one candidate who actually has a job: The incumbent. Does Sandy help Obama politically?

Yes. Natural disasters are in the president's wheelhouse: "The beauty of being a president and a candidate is that when a monster storm stalks up the East Coast you can run over to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and be seen as a president on the job," says Candy Crowley at CNN. "Which also works if you are reapplying." Romney, on the other hand, can't be seen campaigning amidst so much uncertainty, since "just the forecast of a potential disaster can make politics look small." Romney is "not in power," and "can't really do much" but wait and watch.

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