Thursday, November 1, 2012

Who Gets Sandy's Vote?

Not only did Hurricane Sandy tear up the east coast, she also stirred things up in the world of politics. During such a critical time in the election season, neither Obama nor Romney can afford any negativity attached to them. With a massive natural disaster such as Sandy, these candidates are walking on a slippery slope which could make for a quick defeat; as former President George W. Bush learned all too well as a result of Hurricane Katrina.

So which candidate has more of a spotlight on him as a result of Sandy? After reading several articles on this topic, it seems to me that President Obama has been getting a lot of praise, even from republicans such as Governors Chris Christie (NY) and Bob McDonnell (VA). On the other hand, Governor Romney is getting some criticism for his storm relief rallies which have been said to seem more like political rallies. During a time like this, President Obama had an automatic upper-hand being that he is the Commander-in-Chief and gets to show his strengths as a leader.

Another aspect of this event that is helping President Obama is FEMA’s admirable response to Hurricane Sandy. FEMA had a lot on the line with this election, as Governor Romney has made it clear he wants to shut down FEMA. Though there is a lot of praise being thrown in President Obama’s direction, the voter turnout due to this super storm could pose a problem for him.
From the articles I read, it seems very unlikely that Election Day will be postponed for the areas affected by Sandy. With that being said, it is highly unlikely that the cleanup process will be complete in order to make transportation to voting polls easy. Millions of people rely on public transportation, which could play a big role as to how many middle and lower class citizens will have access to voting, as compared to upper class citizens, and people who have their own means of transportation.

In all, there are many factors that could swing this election. With many areas faced with severe damages, and storms that are still to come in swing states such as Ohio, it will be interesting to see what the outcome of this election looks like.  

For more information on this topic, visit the following links:

A Tale of Two Storms

Will Sandy Help Obama?

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