Politics Taking Back Seat During Sandy Recovery
TRENTON, N.J. (CBSMiami) – While Hurricane Sandy may not prove to be an 'October surprise' in the presidential campaign, it has pushed politics aside as Republican New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a solid backer of Mitt Romney, has been praising President Barack Obama in nearly every interview after the storm.
"It's been very good working with the president," Christie told MSNBC, via Politico.com. "He and his administration have been coordinating with us. It's been wonderful."
Christie also sent out a tweet thanking the President for his help, "I want to thank the President personally for all his assistance as w recover from the storm."
Christie said he spoke with Obama multiple times on Monday all the way up to midnight Tuesday and said the President assured him that anything the state needed, just ask. Christie said the President gave him his direct number to call for anything that is needed.
Obama and FEMA rushed through a major disaster declaration for New Jersey and New York after Christie made the request around midnight. The declarations were issued by Tuesday morning, according to Politico.
Reporters have asked Christie about the presidential election, but he has deflected any talk of politics during the crisis. Roughly 2.4 million people in New Jersey are without power after Sandy and at least three people have died in the state.
It's still too early to tell what impact the storm could have on the election. In the hardest hit states of New York and New Jersey, President Obama was expected to carry both states by a good-sized margin.
According to the Congressional Research Service, "The United States Constitution does not provide in express language any current authority for a federal official or institution to "postpone" an election for federal office."
