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Charles Krauthammer examines the President's response to Hurricane Sandy and the elections
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I -- tonight and noting history specifically Hurricane Katrina.
-- Obama canceled his campaigning until at least Thursday taking charge of the storm recovery effort.
It's.
My instructions to the federal agency has been.
Do not.
It's figure out why we can't do something I want to figure out how we do something.
I want -- cut through red tape I want to cut through bureaucracy.
There's no excuse for inaction at this point.
And joining us -- to react.
To the political implications of the storm Fox News analyst Charles Krauthammer is in Washington this evening.
Saudis see the president do any wrong today I mean nine did what he should do we -- Symbolic head of the country.
He can't really do anything about any of this other than to say that agencies federal agencies just get on -- as anybody would and you said.
Well if I wanted to be cynical I would say that his advice.
As we just heard it is too.
Deregulate as you go along.
In the in the recovery efforts but look you're absolutely right he's doing what -- expected to do in one sense you're the father of the nation.
You speak on that as -- nation expressing so -- the way he did after the shooting in Tucson this is -- expected role.
And then you pretend that you're going to be good directing the the -- the the restoration efforts whereas in fact you know that almost all of it happens and it -- of the gubernatorial level.
What the president does is releasing a lot of money.
To help all -- states and also to try to manage FEMA which as yet is not engages more.
The immediate responses at the local level of the FEMA is further along the -- and he's done OK there's no.
Seattle and I don't think anybody should be -- any downtime or Romney Romney the same thing he's got I'd be sympathetic if -- -- power to do -- thing but he's got to show is concerned.
They both canceled some appearances -- and all of that and in if I wasn't.
I -- -- -- I was years don't know I'm not saying what I would say a final word cynical but of course I'm not sure.
Me -- you can discount you are -- You still have storm stuff -- do you know the story will be intensify.
And then a political stuff will come back.
And then on Thursday both Romney and and Obama will regain.
You know they'll start to campaign again.
So.
Looking forward I don't see sandy is a big factor here do you.
No I don't I think it might have some marginal effects.
Does show the president is presidential but people expect that in a national emergency.
So that's that's not really stuff you might say that if you look at where the storms spread.
It's now in Ohio in Virginia.
These are places where the Obama campaign had counted on early voting.
And they made a big effort on that present himself casts about an early first time.
In US history -- doing to encourage others Democrats thought that that might be advantageous for them.
In fact the Gallup show that there are more Republicans.
Then Democrats who voted early so again I think that's probably a wash.
The one way in which it might affect things as you say when we resume the campaign.
Tomorrow is going to be a half and half day by.
The end to equally active campaigning.
When you have this emergency -- you have this tragedy.
And the lingering effects of the tragedy and -- go right through.
Election they did is we -- not a one day deal there's an imposition on the candidates are requirement.
To have a kind of a solemnity.
That you wouldn't ordinarily have in the last couple of days when people are.
Throwing all kinds of charges around and since the Obama campaign is far more negative I've seen it.
In the ads I've seen the last couple of days still increase you know really harshly negative on Romney.
Because they really you don't have a positive agenda.
That's gotta restrain what they're Democrats can do to some extent in the closing argument but it also I think it'll be marginal.
It also distracts people from actually watching this stuff.
Here in the northeast which is Obama country.
-- we expect the president to carry every state in the northeast with the exception of New Hampshire the exact -- Pennsylvania believe me Pennsylvania's in play.
And the Obama campaign is counting on -- a lot of those negative ads the Miami paying attention to on is that -- -- right through that state exactly.
To lose in three days of -- three days.
In in Pennsylvania.
So all of that in all in in the psychology.
And the money.
-- money at the federal level it's gonna have to be used to restore the northeast.
We're talking.
Billions and billions of dollars and it just -- is that fact.
As I was saying in -- talking points memo we don't have enough money to upgrade our electrical grid in this country.
You know -- forty years behind where we should be there.
So does a lot of stuff -- there are -- less work.
You know this is -- to affect the election but it does make you think.
That that 800 billion dollar stimulus.
Which was sprinkled you know hurled out of airplanes and helicopters.
And left without a Trace you know ended up -- -- and other places.
Imagine if we had chosen a single project like Eisenhower picking of the interstate highway system and it had big.
Oh let's say the electrical load greater bearing -- -- And the country and absolutely it has something very not very -- there is simply that I used the money that was spent wasted and it is written nonsense.
That's right.
I mean if we had doing done -- TVA -- inner stayed and you can see eight.
And it would have had people back to work which was supposed to be you know what the stimulus is all about Charles always thanks very much like they had some recent.
