Every four years there is always talk about an October surprise, a news event staged within a few weeks of the Presidential election that tilts the outcome towards a candidate.
The term came into use shortly after the 1972 presidential election between Republican incumbent Richard Nixon and Democrat George McGovern, when the United States was in the fourth year of negotiations to end the very long and domestically divisive Vietnam War. On October 26, 1972, twelve days before the election on November 7, the United States' chief negotiator, the presidential National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger, appeared at a press conference held at the White House and announced, "We believe that peace is at hand".
Ever since then the media and candidates have tried to label political announcements as an October surprise, mostly as a way to discredit them.
There have been October surprise conspiracy theories like in 1980 when rumours circulated that a deal would be made by Jimmy Carter to release the Iran hostages.
Well Hurricane Sandy will likely fall into the category of October surprise. The storm has provided President Obama with the opportunity to demonstrate leadership during a crisis. Always a good thing before an election. It doesn't hurt that Republican New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (not a supporter of Mitt Romney) has been praising Obama since the storm hit.
Making things worse is that Romney has previously expressed a desire to gut FEMA and hand responsibility over to the states. Romney has been questioned continually over the past few days on where he stands on FEMA. The candidate refuses to answer.
It will be impossible to tell if the storm tilts the results of the election but it certainly has the potential to be a factor.
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