POTUS delivers knockout blow by doing his job!
What with the official World Series having ended before it really got going, and the Jets quarterback controversy being put off for a bit—the hapless Gang Green has a much-needed bye week ahead—the big sports story of the moment is Hurricane Sandy and how it affects the Presidential race. To be sure, speculating about the likely impact of a giant storm that has roughly sixty million people in its path risks being in poor taste, but that’s the world we live in, so let’s get to it.
Having spent the first part of the weekend campaigning in the swing states and monitoring the weather forecasts, President Obama flew back to Washington on Sunday and set about exploiting his home-field advantage. With his opponent last reported to be stuck in Celina, Ohio, population 10,400, he went to the headquarters of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, where he received a briefing from the head of the Agency and his colleagues. On Monday morning, the President received more updates, this time in the White House Situation Room, which is usually reserved for military briefings, and talked to the governors in the affected states. Then he ducked down to the press room to come on all businesslike and Presidential.
Luckily, it wasn’t his wedding anniversary. Rather than apologizing to his wife for having to cancel their date, which is what he did on that fateful night in Denver, he got straight down to business. He noted that the weather forecast had worsened overnight; he said the White House had approved federal states of emergencies in the affected states; and he issued an assurance that that FEMA had “prepositioned assets”—whatever that meant. (Was it a subtle dig at Romney’s holdings in the Cayman Islands?) Wisely, he didn’t say that Craig Fugate, the head of the Agency, was doing “a heckuva job,” but he gave that general impression. Then he issued what he described as his most important message: “Please listen to what your state and local officials are saying. When they say you need to evacuate. Do not delay. Don’t pause. Don’t question the instructions being given because this is a serious storm and could potentially have fatal consequences.” Echoing what Governor Cuomo said on Sunday, he pointed out that people who refused to leave their homes were endangering the lives of the emergency crews who might have to come and rescue them.
If the President seemed to revelling in it, who could blame him? There’s nothing like a potential natural disaster to remind people how much they rely on the government, and to undermine the G.O.P. message that the market will solve everything, or almost everything. Obama didn’t point this out, of course: he didn’t need to. Americans should prepare for lots of water, downed trees, and power outages, he went on, and he expressed confidence that the country would get through this unscathed. “The great thing about America is that people pull together in tough times,” he said. “We set aside whatever issues we may have otherwise to respond appropriately and with swiftness, and that’s exactly what I anticipate is going to happen here.”
As Obama said these words, you could almost hear the groans at Romney H.Q. Just before the President reached the podium, the G.O.P. campaign issued a statement cancelling all its campaign events for Monday evening and Tuesday, even those that were to be held in places well away from the storm, such as Wisconsin. “Governor Romney believes this is a time for the nation and its leaders to come together to focus on those Americans who are in harm’s way,” the statement said. “We we will provide additional details regarding Governor Romney’s and Congressman Ryan’s schedule when they are available.”
To make matters worse for the Republicans, they have had to endure the sight of one of their own campaign surrogates praising the President for his rapid response to the crisis. At a press conference in Trenton on Monday, Chris Christie, the governor of New Jersey, thanked Obama for approving a state of emergency in New Jersey even before the storm had arrived, which enables the state government to access federal funds and help from FEMA. “We appreciate the president’s efforts in that regard,” Christie said. “He and his staff worked tremendously hard.” Confirming that Obama had promised to be there for New Jersey over the coming days, the governor added: “The President assured me on the phone that we’d get his immediate personal attention.”
Doubtless, that’s true. With his adroit actions and reassuring words over the past twenty-four hours, Obama has done exactly what you might have expected a responsible President, and a smart politician, to have done. He’s looked engaged and concerned, but not panicked. He’s marshalled the resources of the federal government as best he can. And he’s kept a straight face while insisting that none of this has anything to do with November 6th. Before leaving the podium in the White House press room, he took one question, which, inevitably, was about the impact of Sandy on the election.
“I’m not worried at this point about the election,” Obama said. “I’m worried about the impact on families and first responders... The election will take care of itself next week. Right now, our number-one priority is to make sure that we are saving lives, that our search-and-rescue teams are going to be in place, that people are going to get the food, the water, the shelter that they need in case of emergency, and that we respond as quickly as possible to get the economy back on track.”
With that, the President was gone, presumably to save more lives and watch the Weather Channel. His pitch and delivery had been perfect. After the first two innings of the Hurricane Sandy World Series, with the opposition unable to do anything but watch, Team Obama had opened up a big lead.
OBAMA TAKES EARLY LEAD IN HURRICANE SANDY WORLD SERIES ... The New Yorker
