‘Hurricane Sandy provides Obama with ‘commander-in-chief moment’ week before poll’

Washington: Hurricane Sandy has provided US President Barack Obama with a commander-in-chief moment a week before voters head to the polls to decide if they want him around for another four years, according to an editorial.

According to the Washington Post, Obama gained a rare moment of bipartisan praise, with Democratic and Republican governors alike commending the performance of the federal government. On Wednesday, Obama will travel to New Jersey to tour damaged areas with Republican Governer Chris Christie, a regular critic of the president who heaped praise on him in the aftermath of the storm, saying that “the president has been all over this and he deserves great credit.” According to the Post, the collaboration between Christie and Obama provided a stark contrast from Hurricane Katrina in 2005, when former President George W Bush’s administration and that of Louisiana Gov Kathleen Blanco engaged in a bitter round of finger-pointing over the botched handling of the disaster. The paper also pointed out that the storm thrust Romney in the almost impossible position of trying to write a role for himself in the story that has gripped the nation’s attention. The GOP nominee held a relief event in Ohio to collect donations for storm victims, but the event had the trappings of a regular campaign rally, with the candidate’s standard theme music and biographical video, the paper said. According to the paper, Obama’s performance could be viewed quite differently as federal relief efforts continue to play out. Whatever problems arise will largely be Obama’s to bear, just as Bush was blamed for Katrina, the paper added. ANI