Why is Obama's lead widening?

This may be just the inevitable end game when people finally make up their minds, and Obama is getting more of the late deciders.    I think there are several factors that influenced them:

   (1)  the last two debates, which Obama clearly won and erased the effect of the first;

   (2)  people are finally thinking about whether they want to vote for a president who builds his whole program on "trust me," who at the same time shows you can't trust one thing he says more than a day or two before he changes it;

(3) most important of all was in fact the October Surprise in the form of the Superstorm Sandy.   Obama's handling of it was masterful . . . well, presidential -- the very opposite of the stingy position Romney had advocated of cutting funds for FEMA and returning it to the states' responsibility.   What he said he wanted it to be is exactly what it is:  It is the states' first responsibility, and they request federal help.

But coordination from a national body is almost essential when you have disasters that involve multiple states.   Why duplicate it with 10 different neighboring states, with no one in charge of the overall picture?    This is one where "states rights" just does not make sense, when it goes beyond the borders of one state.   Another example of Romney's inexperience in addition to his small government ideology.


The fact that FEMA was prepared and immediately ready to provide the assistance the states asked for was in such contrast to -- and called attention to -- the George W. Bush fiasco of Katrina.   Bush and his political appointment of an unqualified man to run FEMA.  That easily translates into Democrat vs Republican.

Obama showed what it's like when an adult is in charge, who does not play politics when disaster strikes.   He has won the highest praise from N. J. Republican Governor Chris Christie -- not a man to be quick with praise for his opponents.    Republican-turned-Independent New York Mayor Michael Blumberg also not only praised Obama but endorsed him for re-election, saying that the storm had brought home to him how important it is for the next president to address climate change, and he prefers Obama as the one who will deal with that.

Still, I won't rest easy until the votes are counted and we're past any challenges of voters right to vote, miscounts, hanging chads or whatever tricks the Republicans may try to steal the election.

Ralph

PS:   I'm greatly reassured that the Democrats have thousands of lawyers fanning across the swing states to monitor the voting and help with any challenges or violations.   The most important single county to watch, they say, is the county that has Cleveland, OH in it.   There will be 600 lawyers standing by in that county alone.