So far Obama has been lauded for his handling of the Sandy disaster. However, as each day goes by it becomes increasingly clear that that are a significant amount of people who are still homeless (in very cold weather), have limited access to food and water and no transportation.
CNN and MSNBC repeatedly show scenes, and interviews, with individuals in dire straights and then cut to a FEMA individual planting a "FEMA" sign in the ground somewhere, implying they have just arrived. I am a huge Obama supporter, but seeing these scenes makes me wonder how appropriate is it for Obama to be campaigning in Ohio, and elsewhere when it can be argued he should be in DC visibly leading the recovery effort.
He should also visit NYC, especially Staten Island. I don't think Bloomberg would object at this point, as he apparently did initially. Presidents are rightfully defined by their response to crisis, one only has to look at Bush's response to Katrina, and the fall-out from his lack of visible involvement.
For those worried about the campaign, I would argue there is no better campaign images than the President being the President in a time of crisis. The media will cover it exhaustively and simultaneously Romney will find himself in a media vacuum. Furthermore , if the problems I saw on CNN last night continue to spiral out of control, it will begin to effect Obama's re-electability.
