Hurricane Helene scrambles politics in 3 battleground states
by Alexander Bolton - 10/01/24 6:00 AM ET
The 500-mile-long path of destruction cut by Hurricane Helene has scrambled the politics of three battleground states that could determine control of the White House and Senate: North Carolina, Georgia and Florida.
Both former President Trump and Vice President Harris abruptly changed their campaign plans to refocus their attention on states hit hard by a storm that spanned 350 miles, with winds reaching 140 miles per hour, that left more than 100 people dead.
The storm’s damage has drawn early comparisons to Katrina, the hurricane that left more than 1,000 dead in New Orleans and surrounding Louisiana in 2005 and became an albatross for then-President George W. Bush.
In races that could be decided by a few thousand, or even a few hundred, votes, any response that could be perceived as uncaring, tone deaf or incompetent could be devastating.
“The burden is on President Biden’s shoulders because his reputation now with many voters is that he’s only marginally up to the job. Anything that seems a bit slow, even if it’s not slow … will have some political fallout for him and those associated with him. So I think the burden is clearly on the shoulder of the Democrats,” said Stephen Smith, a political science professor at Washington University in St. Louis.
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https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/4908297-hurricane-helene-impact-politics/
