Campaigns shift resources for Hurricane Sandy

Updated 3:30 p.m. ET

Nine days before Election Day, Hurricane Sandy is barreling toward the east coast and causing the presidential campaigns to alter their schedules. Over the weekend, the Romney campaign cancelled campaign events in Virginia and instead moved their candidate to events in Ohio. However, they are still mobilizing volunteers in the Old Dominion State. Today at their Arlington headquarters, they are loading storm necessities onto their campaign bus. They plan to distribute water and other kinds of emergency storm relief supplies throughout the state over the next few days at local relief centers.

"Governor Romney's concern is the safety and well being of those in the path of this storm, not political considerations," Romney spokeswoman Sarah Pompei wrote in an email.

The campaign is taking similar precautions in New Hampshire, where Ann Romney was supposed to be on Monday. They have cancelled that visit and are instead using another campaign bus to help with relief there.

The Obama campaign has also cancelled events as Sandy approaches. President Obama was briefed by FEMA in Washington, D.C., today and labeled it a "serious and big storm."

Early and absentee voting has been a central focus of both campaigns. In Virginia, it was announced yesterday that the State Board of Elections is now allowing voters who may be affected by the storm to vote absentee in-person, and the Obama campaign is working to spread encourage anyone who qualifies to take advantage of the opportunity. "In spite of the weather, our volunteers in Hampton Roads knocked on thousands more doors this Saturday than last Saturday," an Obama campaign aide in Virginia wrote to CBS News.

"The campaign is closely monitoring the storm and will take all necessary precautions to make sure our staff and volunteers are safe," says OFA spokesperson Marianne P. von Nordeck. " Where it's safe to do so, our historic grassroots organization is running at full speed in Eastern battleground states to persuade undecided voters and get our supporters out to the polls between now and Election Day."

• Obama visits FEMA, says Hurricane Sandy resources "are in place"
• Hurricane Sandy to sideline Obama

Jill Biden was supposed to appear in North Carolina and Pennsylvania on today and tomorrow, but those trips were scrapped in order to ensure that all local law enforcement could focus on their own tasks at hand. Beau Biden, Vice President Joe Biden's son, who is Delaware's attorney general, abandoned plans to campaign with his father in Virginia at the last minute last night. Biden told those in attendance: "He was sitting in Air Force Two as we were about to take off, and... he called and said 'Dad, the governor has just called up the National Guard. I'm going home.'"

In Maryland, Gov. Martin O'Malley, an Obama supporter, has cancelled early voting throughout the state on Monday. And in New Jersey, Gov. Chris Christie, who's campaigning on behalf of Romney, has cancelled a trip to the west coast in order to oversee his state's response to the storm.

[andie52]

Mitt Romney has made his personal fortune with at least some assistance from local and state governments, as well as the federal government and, thus, at taxpayer expense. These deals would be easier to swallow if they benefited state and local economies, as the Romney campaign has tried to claim in defending Romney's record as a corporate welfare recipient

[marmatkat]

Check out the Republican efforts to cut funding for, guess what?

"When Republicans retook the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010, they made deep cuts in the President Barack Obama's 2011 request for the Polar Joint Satellite System, a system of new satellites needed to replace the old ones, which currently provide 85 percent of the data used in hurricane forecasting. House Republicans proposed further deep cuts in the program in fiscal year 2012.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Director Jane Lubchenco called the cuts "insanity." She said that failure to fund the satellites would create a significant gap between the time the existing satellites failed and the new system became serviceable. Lubchenco said that the gap would be like "going backwards in 20 years' time" in hurricane forecasting."

[Faramir0028g]

Beau Biden got called up for guard duty, which one of Mitts sons are in the National Guard?

[nearl451]

None. They feel that their duty do Church and Family are enough...right or wrong.

Same for reasoning that required tithing by the Church is equivalent to paying "taxes".

[Faramir0028g]

Beau Biden got called up for guard duty, which one of Mitts sons are in the National Guard?

[Fareed17]

Watch the World Series. Storm preparations are in place, some inconvenience, people helping people, minimal damage, move on there is nothing else to see. The President, FEMA, government agencies, and the American people, got this covered.

[Jaylah54200]

Well, a potentially deadly storm is never a good thing.

But perhaps the timing of this one is.

This election has gotten so incredibly outrageous, divisive, and bizarre. Maybe we needed something disastrous to remind us that we're all citizens on one country.

If I believed in a god, I'd be wondering if it wasn't trying to tell us something.

Maybe, once the storm is over, Obama and Romney can donate the rest of their campaign contributions to storm relief.

[nearl451]

Wouldn't THAT be a miracle?

One thing that this election has proven to anyone living in a swing State: Citizen's United ruling was not necessary for corporate interests to get their views across.

All it did was lead to a caucophony of damned few opinions and lots of lies.

What a big waste of money.

[johne37179-2]

The President asked his advisors about what to do with the hurricane coming ashore along the eastern seaboard. He pointed out that we have had lots of warnings about how bad it might be, but we don't really know how risky it is on the ground. He told his aids "I want you to make sure there are no State Department employees, ambassadors or former SEALs there. Because if there are -- we aren't sending any assistance!"

[Faramir0028g]

Beau Biden got called up for guard duty, which one of Mitts sons are in the National Guard?

[cycleash]

Doesn't surprise me that Mitt is actually helping relief aid with his bus. Yes he does care about your well being as opposed to Obama who neglected the Hurricane Katrina folk.

Obama calls the Seals and they get Bin Laden. Seals in Lybia call Obama and they get DENIED and die.

[seymour93]

BUSH was in office when Hurricane Katrina hit, not Obama. Seriously, are you honestly that stupid???

Also, giving out aid is one of the biggest tacticis to "winnning hearts and minds". It is not necessarily a selfless act. The PLO does that in communities in Gaza to win people's loyalty. With the election a week away, it makes perfect sense to divert resources to disaster aid, because when people vote they're going to remember that.

[nearl451]

Seymour....yes apparently he is.

[aokmaster]

"Governor Romney's concern is the safety and well being of those in the path of this storm, not political considerations."

This entertains me. Romney caring about people? Everything he's done in his life has been for political or monetary gain. All he sees is $$$ signs. He'd lay off a million workers if it meant personal monetary gain for him. The sad thing is, I WANT a reason to vote GOP, but they keep screwing themselves up so badly with their candidates and scary agendas that I just can't do it. This fiscally conservative and socially liberal guy will stand behind the President this year.

[cycleash]

read my comment. the last part is your reason why to vote for GOP.

[Chumbiscuit]

AOKMASTER,
You are an example of someone who allows your mind to be guided by the negative ads. If anything, Romney is far and above the most caring and charitable of the options. Surely you don't think that because someone is financially successful that this somehow alienates them from helping others. You need to study his past from long before any political aspirations came along and you will see he is the real deal and has had a lifetime of caring and service to others. I would gladly want him as a public servant.

[gulfwarvet94]

"There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it -- that that's an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what. ... These are people who pay no income tax. ... [M]y job is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives."

Mitts you are not fooling anyone