Storm Sandy could win Obama presidency

President Obama (Photo: BBC)

By Chris Wamalwa in USA

As most Americans hunkered down waiting for Storm Sandy to pass and as recovery from the aftermath of the historic storm gets underway, we realised that Sandy is offering a chance for President Obama to showcase his leadership skills one last time.

President Obama’s genuine concern and response to the disaster earned him praise from an unlikely foe, New Jersey governor Chris Christy.

Such disasters happen to bring out the true character of a leader. Whether this becomes Obama’s turning point in such a close race, shall be known in two weeks’ time.

Opinion polls show Obama and Republican Mitt Romney are running neck-and-neck and the way he handles the disaster could sway voters his way.

Storm Sandy blew the US presidential race off track with just a week to go until the elections.

President Obama cancelled Wednesday campaign events as he stayed in Washington focusing on relief efforts for the devastated East Coast.

Republican Mitt Romney held a storm-relief event in Ohio, a state crucial to his hopes, and will return to the campaign trail on Wednesday.

Romney holds a slender lead in some national surveys of the popular vote, but Obama was narrowly ahead in some of the swing states that are expected to decide the race.

For Obama, this campaign has truly been a fight against the elements: a painfully slow economic recovery and a political landscape in which the Republicans swept the table just two years ago.

The Obama campaign, with its trademark discipline and meticulous organization, set out to overcome these obstacles. But the long campaign has also put the spotlight on features of Obama's own personality and performance.

The president's most prominent character witness, former President Bill Clinton, put it this way at the Democratic convention: "I want to nominate a man who's cool on the outside but who burns for America on the inside." Many people have said that it is impossible not to like President Obama as a person.

-Additional reporting BBC