Download
As tens of millions of US citizens living on the East Coast of the United States brace for possible devastation from Hurricane Sandy, few might realize the key role the dramatic weather might play in the close presidential election only eight days away.
The hurricane is expected to affect a large area of the country, including key swing states such as North Carolina, Virginia and Ohio.
Strong winds, heavy rains and snowstorms are expected to cause widespread flooding and power outages.
Already, Maryland’s Governor Martin O'Malley, a Democrat, has canceled early voting on Monday. Early voting has also been canceled for Monday in Washington DC.
Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, a Republican, said his state will extend early voting hours and restore power quickly to election facilities in the event of power outages. A Washington Post poll released on Sunday revealed that Barack Obama lead Mitt Romney by 51 percent to 47 percent in Virginia, just outside the poll's margin of error. Both candidates have canceled or changed their campaign plans for the coming days due to the hurricane.
After meeting top Federal Emergency Management Agency officials on Sunday to discuss preparations for the weather, Obama, who described the hurricane as a "serious and big storm", left the White House for Florida.
Obama had planned to go ahead with events in Florida on Monday, but he made a last minute decision to cancel the event in Orlando, Florida, on Monday and return to Washington to handle the crisis caused by the storms.
As commander in chief, Obama is expected to greatly reduce his campaign time and focus on disaster relief should the hurricane cause widespread damage. While an incumbent president can easily attract criticism from people hit by the hurricane, it could also be a time for Obama to demonstrate his strong leadership.
It is believed that Republican candidate Romney will not try to exploit the hurricane to attack Obama. He faced a backlash when he blamed Obama for the handling of the US consulate attack in Benghazi, Libya, soon after the incident.
Besides forcing candidates to change their campaign plans in the last few days leading up to the election, there are also concerns that the storm might impact the election in other ways, such as causing damage to polling stations, preventing voters from seeing campaign ads, reducing TV coverage of the election and discouraging undecided voters to travel to polling stations.
With most federal offices in Washington closed on Monday, thousands of flights to the East Coast were canceled, and all public schools in New York, Washington and Boston closed. Much of the public transit system was shut down.
No one seems to know what the real impact of Hurricane Sandy will be on the close presidential race. Opinion polls show the race to be essentially tied at the national level.
A Reuters/Ipsos tracking poll released on Sunday found Obama leading Romney among likely voters by 49 percent to 46 percent.
Among all registered voters, Obama held a wider lead of 51 percent to 39 percent.
About the broadcaster:
CJ Henderson is a foreign expert for China Daily's online culture department. CJ is a graduate of the University of Sydney where she completed a Bachelors degree in Media and Communications, Government and International Relations, and American Studies. CJ has four years of experience working across media platforms, including work for 21st Century Newspapers in Beijing, and a variety of media in Australia and the US.
职场英语情景交际之同事之间抱怨第三服务商的服务质量
外企必备英语口语(5)
职场美语视频:用英语邀请同事或朋友来家中用餐
外企必备英语口语(7)
职场实用英语口语(5)
职场英语口语:希望不是什么严重的事情
职场英语情景交际之询问同事老板去向
职场美语视频:邀请和接受邀请时确认时间和地点Setting the time and place
职场英语口语百科:be on pins and needles
职场英语情景交际之办公室午餐时间帮同事带快餐
职场美语视频:Agreeing with an opinion用英语表达赞同
外企必备英语口语:用英语谈论某事的日期和时间安排
职场英语情景交际之和朋友讨论对加薪幅度不满意的事
职场美语视频:What do you think?询问他人对当今电视节目的看法
职场英语口语百科:be over the hump
职场实用英语口语(4)
职场英语情景交际之如何从9份面试中得到10份offer
职场英语情景交际之电话预定到伦敦的机票
职场英语情景交际之办公室老板安排员工购买办公用品
职场实用英语口语(3)
职场美语视频:What advice would you give用英语给建议
职场英语口语:我觉得我不适合做销售工作
外企工作必备英语口语精讲(1)
外企工作必备英语口语精讲(3)
职场美语视频:在同事家用餐,女主人劝酒劝菜英语口语对话
职场英语情景交际之八卦新上司有外遇
职场英语情景交际之申请书被新任董事撤回
职场英语情景交际之垃圾邮件真烦人
外企必备英语口语:用英语介绍自己和介绍别人
外企工作必备英语口语精讲(5)
不限 |
英语教案 |
英语课件 |
英语试题 |
不限 |
不限 |
上册 |
下册 |
不限 |