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Sandy Could Impact Swing Voters In Presidential Election

By Cherri Gregg

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - As the focus begins to shift toward Tuesday's election, some political observers are wondering how Sandy will impact the presidential campaign.

Franklin and Marshall political science professor Terry Madonna says anytime there is a disaster during a presidential election, the incumbent will have a clear advantage on winning points with swing voters and that fact rings true with Sandy.

"The fact that Governor Chris Christie and Barack Obama spent virtually an entire day viewing the devastation {in New Jersey} sort of arm in arm so to speak-- of course, that's obviously very helpful to the president," he said.

But Governor Romney tried to get a little press by staging a food drive to benefit Sandy victims in Ohio, which turned slightly negative. Madonna says Romney is not relevant to disaster, so it's up to him to change the subject.

"I think you move on, you go back to the strength of his campaign, which is to talk about the economy and the slow job growth."

Madonna's latest poll shows Obama has a mere four-point lead over Romney, which means Pennsylvania is again up for grabs on November 6th.

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