Hurricane Sandy may blow away presidential hopes

President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney have both suspended their campaigns because of Hurricane Sandy. Many political watchers wonder what kind of impact that could have as the presidential campaign heads into the final week before the election.

In an interview with Ross and Burbank, David Mark, editor in chief for the political website Politix, says it could favor President Obama since he’ll remain in the spotlight.

“He’s gotten essentially off of the campaign trail, he’s in the emergency management center and he’s giving directives and he’s out there publicly,” Mark says of the president’s frequent press briefings shown live on national television.

But Mark says a big part of the Obama campaign strategy was drawing supporters to the polls for early voting to build momentum in swing states like Ohio and Virginia. And he says the storm could keep many from getting out.

Mark says the storm could actually hurt Romney more, though, by slowing the momentum he’s enjoyed in the polls and on the stump thanks to his strong debate performances.

“He seemed to really think that he was close to the promised land. He was actually in sight of the presidency.”

Still, he understands why Romney has canceled all campaigning while the storm rages.

“It just would look really bad if you’re engaging in partisan politics at a time when people are under direct threat.”

Despite the storm, Mark is one of a number of pundits still predicting an Obama victory next Tuesday, giving him a 70 percent chance of winning if he were betting on the race.

“If you just look at the electoral college math, Ohio is going to be close, but I still think it goes President Obama. Virginia is looking surprisingly good for Obama. Florida is looking like it’s probably going to go Romney, so it will certainly be closer than last time, but I would say President Obama has a decent shot,” he says.