There’s no time for partisan politics in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.
STORY: Oh No! Could Sandy Postpone Election Day?
President Obama and Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie have teamed up in an unlikely bromance-like fashion to find solutions to fix the destruction in the ravaged state.
On Wednesday, Gov. Christie, a supporter of GOP nominee Mitt Romney, gave Obama a tour of his state and praised the President for his help. “I cannot thank the President enough for his personal concern and compassion,” said Christie yesterday standing side by side with the Democratic incumbent. Obama also returned the praise toward the Governor.
In the meantime, Republican strategists deny that the bipartisan praise given from a leading GOP party favorite and a Romney surrogate will hurt Romney’s campaign.
The Daily Beast reports:
Republican strategists say Romney’s sidelining by the storm will prove to be a blip on the radar and that the challenger will have no difficulty returning to full campaign mode. The former governor, for his part, did not criticize the president by name on Wednesday, perhaps mindful of seeming overly harsh while television screens are still filled with pictures of devastation in New Jersey and New York.
John Feehery, a former House GOP official, says Romney looked “a little awkward” at what was billed as a storm relief event on Tuesday in Ohio, trying not to sound “overtly political. But he almost had to do that so he could pivot to the campaign again. He’s not going to take the Chris Christie approach: ‘President Obama is doing a great job.’”
Alex Castellanos, a one-time Romney adviser, says the former governor shouldn’t mute his message: “You’re running a campaign to get people out of a burning building. You’re allowed to shout.”
The strategist offered Romney a pungent line of attack: “President Obama stepped in and he’s doing the job he should be doing, great, good for him. Wish he’d done the same on the economy.”
Despite what Republicans may say, the numbers don’t lie. A recent Washington Post/ABC poll shows that 78 percent of Americans view the President’s response as excellent or good, while only 44 percent see Romney’s response as positive, 21 percent negative, and 35 percent are indifferent.
SOURCE: The Daily Beast
