Walkabout: President Barack Obama talks to a resident as he tours a neighborhood effected by Superstorm Sandy in Brigantine, New Jersey Walking with with him are two Democrat senators, Frank Lautenberg and Bob Menendez Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2225865/Hurricane-Sandy-2012-Shocked-Obama-flies-Atlantic-City-disaster-zone.html#ixzz2BG2agQ1f Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook --------------------------- PUBLISHED: 17:30 GMT, 31 October 2012 Daily Mail President Obama took time out from the campaign trail yesterday to visit a stretch of the devastated New Jersey coast and take on a role of comforter-in-chief that could be a major boost to his hopes of re-election next week. The President was accompanied by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a Republican bruiser and Mitt Romney backer who showered him with effusive praise for his handling of Superstorm Sandy, giving President Obama a bipartisan sheen that aides believe could help him secure victory on Tuesday. Leaving Republican presidential candidate Mr Romney on the sidelines holding campaign events in Florida in which he had to pull his punches and barely featured on TV, President Obama travelled to Atlantic City in New Jersey to get an aerial view of the widespread damage caused by the storm. 'I want to let you know that your governor is working overtime,' President Obama told victims at an emergency shelter after the tour. 'The entire country has been watching what's been happening. Everybody knows how hard Jersey has been hit.' Governor Christie said: 'It's really important to have the president of the United States here.' President Obama returned the compliment. The politicians' meeting came as people in the heavily populated US East Coast corridor battered by Sandy took the first cautious steps to reclaim their upended daily routines, even as rescuers combed neighbourhoods strewn with debris and scarred by floods and fire. Mr Romney was forced to reassure voters, a week before election day and following the massive disaster, that his administration wouldn't leave disaster victims in the lurch. With President Obama heavily involved in getting federal funds to those in trouble, the Romney campaign moved quickly to reassure the public it supports a strong program of storm relief. Only last year, as Mr Romney hewed to the right while battling for the GOP nomination, he seemed to downplay the federal government's role in disaster response. 'Every time you have an occasion to take something from the federal government and send it back to the states, that's the right direction," Romney said at a debate last June. 'And if you can go even further, and send it back to the private sector, that's even better.' Asked by moderator John King of CNN whether that would include disaster relief, Mr Romney said: 'We cannot afford to do those things without jeopardising the future for our kids. It is simply immoral, in my view, for us to continue to rack up larger and larger debts and pass them on to our kids.' However Mr Romney had altered that position when he released a statement on the disaster yesterday. 'I believe that FEMA plays a key role in working with states and localities to prepare for and respond to natural disasters. 'As president, I will ensure FEMA has the funding it needs to fulfill its mission, while directing maximum resources to the first responders who work tirelessly to help those in need, because states and localities are in the best position to get aid to the individuals and communities affected by natural disasters.' Mr Romney had ducked a spate of opportunities on Tuesday to personally clarify his position and the statement essentially endorsed the current disaster aid system. President Obama and Governor Christie ladled on the mutual praise on Wednesday as they toured the damage sites. Governor Christie, who has publicly endorsed Mr Romney, said: 'I want to thank the president for coming here today (Wednesday). It's really important to have the president of the United States acknowledge all the suffering that's going on here in New Jersey and I appreciate it very much.' The President returned the kind words, telling the crowds of beleaguered New Jersey residents who had gathered that their Republican governor was 'working overtime to make sure that as soon as possible everybody can get back to normal'. By Tuesday night, the winds and flooding inflicted by the fast-weakening Sandy had subsided, leaving at least 76 people dead along the Atlantic Coast and splintering beachfront homes and boardwalks from the mid-Atlantic states to southern New England. The storm later moved across Pennsylvania on a predicted path toward western New York State and Canada. At the height of the disaster, more than 8.2 million customers lost electricity - some as far away as Michigan. Nearly a quarter of those without power were in New York, where lower Manhattan's usually bright lights remained dark for a second night. During his introduction, Governor Christie, known for his brash demeanor, said that he forgave residents of Brigantine for not following his order to ‘get the @#!*% out’ before the storm hit Monday night. (He jokingly said ‘you’re forgiven this time.’) President Obama made a reference to the colorful language, turning back to give the Governor a smile during the remark. The President pledged to streamline the federal funding process, explaining that he has instituted a so-called 15 minute rule for his team, meaning that if a mayor, state politician, or governor calls them, they have to respond with firm answers in a matter of minutes. ‘We are not going to tolerate red tape,’ he said. ‘When you see neighbors helping neighbors you’re reminded of what America’s all about. ‘We’re going to have a ton of work to do. I don’t want anyone thinking that this will be cleaned up overnight. We want to make sure people have realistic expectations. We will not quit… We don’t leave anybody behind.’ New Jersey was one of the hardest-hit in Monday night’s storm, and power outages in the state’s two biggest cities - Newark and Jersey City - have prevented progress, as traffic lights remain out of action. The visit came after the President’s second visit to FEMA headquarters for an update on federal progress. President Obama took a motorcade to FEMA's offices in Washington D.C. to meet with agency chiefs before the flight to Atlantic City to meet with Sandy's victims and relief workers. ‘Now we've got a big task ahead of us that we have to do together. This is the kind of thing New Jerseyans are built for,’ he added. Governor Christie had said that he would ask the President to assign the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to start working on how to rebuild beaches and find ‘the best way to rebuild the beach to protect these towns’. President Obama cancelled his campaign appearances up to yesterday but is staying in the public eye as commander of federal relief efforts. ‘This is a tough time for millions of people,’ the President said. ‘But America is tougher.’ Obama campaign senior adviser David Axelrod said yesterday that the President intends to resume campaigning today. Campaign officials say the President will make stops in Green Bay, Wisconsin; Las Vegas, Nevada; and Boulder, Colorado. President Obama’s last campaign event was last Saturday in New Hampshire. He flew to Orlando on Sunday to attend a campaign rally on Monday with former President Bill Clinton but scrapped his campaign plans to return to Washington D.C. to monitor preparations for Superstorm Sandy. Mr Romney wavered in his strategy. First the campaign said he would skip a rally in Ohio on Tuesday out of sympathy for the storm victims. Then Mr Romney decided to do the event but recast it as a storm-relief effort, shorn of the usual campaign speech. ‘It's part of the American spirit, the American way, to give to people in need,’ Mr Romney said in Kettering, Ohio, before supporters lined up to hand him bags of canned food for storm victims. Adding to Mr Romney's dilemma are the candidate's previous statements on the federal government's role in emergency management. He said he believes state and local governments should have primary responsibility for emergency clean-up. Mr Romney refused yesterday to answer repeated questions from reporters about what he would do with the Federal Emergency Management Agency if he wins the election. Asked about federal aid to help recover and rebuild from Sandy, a spokesman said: ‘A Romney-Ryan administration will always ensure that disaster funding is there for those in need. Period.’ For President Obama, missing a few days of active campaigning for vital presidential duties may be a good trade, politically speaking. Lingering anger about President George W. Bush's performance when Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans in 2005 could provide a backdrop to benefit President Obama if he does a solid job. Kathleen Hall Jamieson, of the University of Pennsylvania, said a natural disaster gives a president ‘unlimited access to the media to say things the public wants and needs to hear in a fashion that reinforces that he is president.’ For President Obama, the federal response to the natural disaster could make or break his bid for a second term. His reputation could suffer if the federal government's response is feeble or botched. Or it could mean just the opposite, that Mr Romney's so confident in the most competitive battlegrounds that he's pressing for insurance against President Obama in what's expected to be a close race. Or perhaps the Republican simply has money to burn. Use it now or never. The U.S. president is chosen not by the nationwide popular vote but in state-by-state contests. That has made a handful of states whose voters are neither reliably Republican nor Democratic the focus of the November 6 election, expected to be one of the closest in U.S. history. Ohio and Florida are prominent among those, and no Republican has been elected president without winning Ohio. In a sign that Ohio looms large for the Romney campaign: a guest-filled rally in suburban Cincinnati is planned for Friday to kick off the campaign's final four days. Set to join Mr Romney and running mate Paul Ryan are golf legend Jack Nicklaus, ex-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Texas Governor Rick Perry and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Vice President Joe Biden planned to campaign yesterday in Florida. Mr Ryan was scheduled to campaign in his home state, Wisconsin. Meanwhile, Democratic groups bitterly complained about a TV ad the Romney camp is running in the Toledo and Youngstown areas of Ohio. The ad suggests that Jeep will move its Toledo car-making facility to China, a claim Jeep executives deny. Democrats called the ad a brazen lie and a sign of desperation. Even some Republicans worried that Mr Romney has gone too far in a state where voters follow the auto industry closely. ‘It's the kind of thing that happens late in the campaign, when everybody's tired and you're not quite yourself,’ said GOP pollster and strategist Mike McKenna, who does not work for the Romney campaign. ‘It didn't help. But I don't think it's a big thing. At this point, everybody has made up their mind.’ Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2225865/Hurricane-Sandy-2012-Shocked-Obama-flies-Atlantic-City-disaster-zone.html#ixzz2BFtNPjpL Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook