[TheRealVille]

7:26AM EDT October 31. 2012 - Political storms indeed make strange bedfellows.

President Obama will review Hurricane Sandy damage today with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican and frequent Obama critic.

Obama will not be going to neighboring New York City, where Mayor Michael Bloomberg -- a self-styled independent who has been both complimentary and critical of Obama -- said this is not the time for a presidential visit.

New York City would "love to have him, but we've got lots of things to do," said Bloomberg, who spoke yesterday with White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew.

Bloomberg also praised the federal response to the disaster: "You know, there was a lot of criticism with (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) back in the (Hurricane) Katrina days, and today, you hear nothing but good things about FEMA, and they certainly have been very helpful to us."

Christie, a major supporter of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, has been effusive in his praise of Obama during the storm.

"The president has been outstanding in this," Christie said on Tuesday.

Obama and Christie also did a storm tour last year in the wake of Hurricane Irene.

Today, the White House said, Obama "will join Governor Christie in viewing the storm damage, talking with citizens who are recovering from the storm and thanking first responders who put their lives at risk to protect their communities."

The storm has give Obama what some call a "commander-in-chief moment."

But his actions can't help but be viewed in a political context, less than a week before Election Day -- and no one knows if it will help him at the polls, or have no effect.

As noted above, the storm has scrambled traditional politics.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/theoval/20...y/1670759/