Thoughts on how Category 4 Matthew will affect the campaign?

[NewsCenter28]

Will the 2nd debate be cancelled? Does the campaign now focus entirely on the recovery? Do the presidential campaigns suspend? We are looking at Katrina II here and a time of grave national crisis that may rival 9/11. No joke.

[TheCowsCameHome]

1. Why would the debate be cancelled?

[jehop61]

9. Possibly

Trumps West Palm Beach mansion and golf course are in direct hit territory. Will give him an excuse to not show up.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

14. If he decides not to show up because he has to sweep water off a golf course,

Hillary would still take to the stage.

[shenmue]

16. Hmmm

[underpants]

2. 2 million people told to evacuate 1 month from the election

Last edited Thu Oct 6, 2016, 11:52 AM - Edit history (1)

It could seriously affect Florida.

[scheming daemons]

11. Sandy happened 5 days from the election... and it didn't affect those states

A month is a long time. It won't affect the election in Florida.

[underpants]

12. Yeah but how much doubt is there about NJ NY CT etc. ?

Florida is always close.

[scheming daemons]

13. I meant that turnout was barely affected at all. NJ had the expected turnout.

[BlueStreak]

3. Events like this focus people on the value of government

That may not move the numbers very much, but it should help solidify Hillary's lead because everybody else out there (well Johnson, Trump, and Pence anyway) spend all day preaching about how horrible government is.

Sunday's debate is in St. Louis. Absolutely no reason to cancel it. Neither Trump nor Hillary has an active role to play in the response.

If Obama were in the debate, that would make more sense. Indeed, this is an ideal time for our prospective leaders to talk about what this country needs in terms of resources and infrastructure.

[Johnny2X2X]

4. Ground Game

FL is going to be a mess for weeks, people are going to be confused as to where they can vote. The team with the bigger and better ground game will have a huge advantage in ushering their voters to the right spots.

Viewership will be lower for Debate 2 because of this leaving less of an opening for gains should Trump do well.

Overall though, you get to see Obama acting Presidential and he'll likely reference Clinton in some ways. It will be a stark contrast to the Orange Clown.

More importantly than all of that though is that peoples' lives are threatened and their homes are in the path of an incredibly powerful destructive force. My thoughts are with those people, and I hope our government is prepared to help as much as possible.

[DrDan]

5. As one who evacuated yesterday and is currently watching the eye

Head directly toward our house, let me say it is times like these that politics become secondary.

My family is safe except for my son - a nurse on duty in Ormond Beach - and will be through Saturday.

[Caliman73]

10. Wishing you and your family the best DrDan

You are right, politics should be secondary in times like these. Hopefully they will be and people will focus on working together to mitigate the damage and to rebuild as effectively, efficiently, and quickly as possible.

I think that the main reason why politics does become involved during times like this is that there are people in positions of leadership in this country who have promoted the idea that Government should be limited, defunded, etc... and that problems should be solved at the local level within private systems. There is one major party, and a secondary one who promote this idea. While there is definitely room to debate the size, scope, and complexity of the National government versus State and local governments, the issue becomes one of resources. When you pool together resources from the 200+ million citizens of the country who are in a position to pay into the National Treasury., you are going to have more resources than if you have to rely solely on the 20 million or so people in Florida (less than that pay taxes) and on the resources that are available through County and municipal governments.

Again, good luck, health, and safety to you and your family.

[DrDan]

22. Thank you

[Caliman73]

6. There will definitely be an impact.

I am sure that Trump will try to use it to back out of a debate his team probably knows he will lose.

The storm will no doubt be destructive and I am hoping that all people in its path are safe and that they listen to the instructions to evacuate. The major difference with Katrina was that while the storm and surge caused a great deal of damage, the real problem was the lack of rapid and effective response. That is not going to happen here. As we saw with Sandy, President Obama's administration is prepared, professional, and collaborative.

Strictly politically, Trump will not be able to resist the desire to aggrandize himself. He will stick himself in where he does not belong for the photo op and create problems just like with the floods in Louisiana.

[maryellen99]

7. I could see Gov Scott telling Obama to stay away but allowing Trump to visit nt

[NewsCenter28]

8. CNN is downplaying the storm so far.

Minimal coverage compared to what they did for Katrina and Sandy. Too busy talking about what Donald Duck is up to today.

[maryellen99]

17. Not surprised nt

[Skidmore]

15. Scott engaged in a little snark

in his press conference this morning in which he implied that the President was given a request for declaration of a disaster area last night and he "hoped" he would move quickly on it. I saw red. President Obama has never turned down a request for assistance for an area in crisis. Ever. Republican piggishness trying to set up a controversy even in a time of crisis.

[Motley13]

18. Remember when the repugs didn't want to help NY & NJ after Sandy

and right after those same ones were begging for money because of flooding?

[Demsrule86]

19. ???

No idea why the presidential campaigns would suspend...make no sense.

[citood]

20. I don't think it will impact the election much at all.

Some will still be displaced by election day, and may have an issue voting...but these problems can be worked through.

I just hope everybody in its path gets the hell out in time.

[Coyotl]

21. No effect.

[yellowcanine]

23. Trump will do a photo op handing out Play-Doh in Florida?

[GreydeeThos]

24. We need to start pointing out Republican errors immediately

When ever posting on the internet, point out that Florida Governor Rick Scott did a terrible job. If something bad happens, it is because Rick Scott failed to allocate enough resources to the problem. If it turns out alright, Rick Scott wasted money and resources by over preparing (for political reasons of course).

Right away we need to start hammering the Republicans for not voting to help the victims of Super Storm Sandy. This needs to be brought to the forefront over and over again.