“Republican New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a fierce critic of Barack Obama, praised the president and the federal government’s response to the massive storm Sandy, which caused widespread damage and power outages along the East Coast,” Susan Heavey wrote for Reuters earlier this week, republished by The National Post. Heavey’s coverage continued, “Christie has attacked Obama repeatedly on the campaign trail and said the Democrat does not deserve a second term in the White House, instead backing Republican challenger Mitt Romney in the Nov. 6 election. But just hours after the worst of the storm knocked out power for 2.4 million people in New Jersey, just south of New York City, Christie applauded Obama and the Federal Emergency Management Agency in interviews on major television networks. ‘The president has been outstanding in this. The folks at FEMA … have been excellent,’ said Christie, once thought to be a contender for the White House or possibly Romney’s vice presidential pick. Christie’s praise came a week before the presidential election, with polls showing the race as a dead heat. ‘I don’t give a damn about Election Day. It doesn’t matter a lick to me at the moment,’ Christie later told reporters in a press conference about the storm damage. ‘I’ve got bigger fish to fry.’ Sandy made landfall in New Jersey on Monday night, leaving behind a trail of flooded homes, toppled trees and downed power lines in the nation’s most densely populated region. At least 30 people were reported killed along the eastern seaboard. Obama’s handling of the storm’s aftermath as well as Romney’s response to it have the potential to become political issues and both campaigns are taking care to avoid missteps.” Read the full article here. | Raymond Matt, CFP, CLU, TEP, CHS
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