Hurricane Sandy, which just hit New Jersey's coast this afternoon, has already killed roughly ten people and caused millions, if not billions, in property damage. The storm is expected to move into Pennsylvania tomorrow and then go north through Maine by Saturday. Now "post tropical" super storm Sandy,depending on its severity, could have a slew of long term effects both on the economy of the Northeast and on the upcoming presidential election.
First of all, polling in the Northeast region will be severely hampered during the storm since millions will be without power and unavailable for polling. This will definitely skew poll results; however, most of the Northeast is reliably democratic. The storm is also expected to contribute to a slightly lower voter turnout this year. A possibly crucial factor to the election outcome will be Obama's response to Sandy. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) mishandled some of Hurricane Katrina's effects, but FEMA is slightly better prepared this time and has stockpiled supplies, medical crews, and staff in New Jersey and New York. If Obama can handle this disaster well, he could gain a crucial edge in the election. However, any mistakes the administration makes in handling Sandy can be pinned on Obama. All Romney has been able to do is stand on the sidelines and offer his concern to to avoid appearing out of touch.
Most importantly, Sandy will cost tens of billions to the Northeast's economy and states. Businesses will suffer from days of lost revenue and spoiled inventory. Also, Wall Street will be closed for two days due to the weather, resulting in two full days of lost trading. States will have to spend billions repairing public infrastructure and on top of all of that, the amount of property damage will be staggering. On a slightly positive note, some businesses and grocery stores have benefited from a short rush for supplies and rebuilding damaged property will provide many unemployed construction workers with jobs.
For more pictures of Hurricane Sandy, go here.
1 comment:
Hurricane Sandy will definitely make the elections different this year. It would have been interesting to see what would have happened if Sandy had hit closer to election day. The state/federal government could have been faced with the decision to postpone election day or not, but that doesn't really matter since we still have a week. Because of preoccupation with the Hurricane, the voter turnout in the key east democratic states will probably lessen by a lot. And though the states are democratic enough that Obama would win those states anyways, it could mean that he would lose the national popular vote. If he wins the majority of electoral votes but loses the popular vote, he will be the first incumbent to lose the popular vote while still winning the elections.
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