Almost everyone has heard of Hurricane Sandy by now (Saturday afternoon). Current predictions are bad, very bad. Here in Pennsylvania, we are already getting rain and the temperature is dropping. If you have not read beholderseye's comprehensive diary yet, do it now. If you are in the storm path, read both the diary and the comments--they contain important and life-saving information. There is real potential for this to be a historically destructive storm.
The paradox is that if President Obama temporarily stops his own active campaigning, it may help him win the election. President Obama should make an announcement that he is suspending personal involvement in the campaign for the duration of the crisis and turning the responsibility for his campaign to the campaign managers. His full attention should be devoted to preventing destruction from Hurricane Sandy and recovering from its losses.
Lest I be labeled a troll, please hear out my reasoning.
We should know in the next 12-24 hours. If Sandy is going the way predicted, President Obama should be in Washington DC, in the White House, when this storm hits and he should be governing our country 100% during the crisis. Let Americans know that he's the one in charge. This is a multistate emergency and it falls under the purview of the Federal government to respond. Make an announcement on what should be done by citizens to protect themselves, their families and their property. Let them know who to contact to find out where shelters are. This is the basis of good governance--something that President Obama and the Democrats are known for. And something George W. Bush, Mr. 14% Romney and the republicans have miserably failed to do.
Don't worry, Mr. President, we've got your back. You go do what you should be doing, and we will be working to get you elected for four more years.
Just as the storm path is predictable, the political fallout from this storm is predictable. There will be enormous economic losses and, more likely than not, lives lost. There could be catastrophic losses. How President Obama (and Romney) responds to it may make the difference in the election.
If President Obama turns his campaigning over to his aides and uses his office to help mobilize disaster relief, it will be the right thing to do. Let Romney give stump speeches in blizzards in Ohio while the President does what he does best--provide leadership to avert and ameliorate a crisis.
President Obama solves crises while Romney manufactures them.
President Obama needs a superb GOTV campaign to win. For all the reasons that we know about, Democratic voters are less able and less likely to vote. Snow, cancelled public transportation, electric outages at polling places, displacement from homes are things more likely to affect these voters. Hurricane Sandy almost looks like it was designed by Karl Rove.
Pennsylvania is dead-centered by Sandy, and we are worried about how this will affect turn-out on Nov. 6. Maryland, West Virginia, New York and New Jersey won't change their electoral positions (although their turnouts could be dramatically dampened). Pennsylvania does not have early voting; if you don't turn up on Nov 6 in Pennsylvania, you don't vote.
We know that this storm is bad. We know that regardless of how much money is spent on campaign advertising, everyone is going to be thinking about the storm, not the election, for the next week.
We also know, Republicans will immediately paint this as "Obama's Katrina", regardless of how this storm unfolds. We know this. If President Obama spends time between now and Monday trying to garner fractions of a percent of the voting population, he plays into their game. At very best there will be millions of inconvenienced, irritable Americans who are not going to listen to anything the candidates say. At worst, the Romnyites will succeed in making President Obama look like he's seeking personal gain while others suffer.
When we are back on our feet and Mr. Obama is elected to another term, man-made global warming--which has been long known to increase the frequency and intensity of hurricanes--must be made into the central issue for the future of our country.