US blogwatch: What effect will Hurricane Sandy have on the election?

Hurricane Sandy will badly disrupt the election campaigns for the rest of this week. But who stands to lose most?

It may be worse for Romney, who still has the most catching up to do, argues Howard Kurtz on the dailybeast.com. Whether the Republican will help himself by sending a campaign bus to help the relief effort, as reported by thehill.com, is questionable. There has been plenty of Twitter mirth at his expense too via the #romneystormtips hashtag and others — like “Everyone in the path of the hurricane should head to their second or third homes for safety,” tweeted by Cleveland DJ Alan Cox (@alancoxshow).

By contrast Obama gets to look decisive and presidential: he said yesterday that “the election will take care of itself next week.” But if he

mis-steps, George W Bush’s hamfisted response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005 offers a terrible warning. More controversially, critics have dug up a clip of Romney calling in a debate in 2011 for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to be shut down to save money. Expect that clip to air a lot this week: there’s already fierce argument in the blogosphere over it.

David Frum argues on thedailybeast.com that Romney simply wanted the emergency agency’s operations taken over by states. But The New Republic’s Alec MacGillis (tnr.com) said this would lead to inadequate relief for poorer states. Meanwhile, with the race still neck and neck, Politico.com says both sides are ready for recounts and legal wrangles.