(Obama campaign photo)

WASHINGTON-- First Lady Michelle Obama, sidelined in Chicago because of Hurricane Sandy, on Tuesday visited the Obama for America headquarters in the Prudential Building and did some phone-banking to get-out-the vote in battleground Wisconsin.

I'm told Mrs. Obama was at the HQ between 12:45 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. and at one point delivered a pep talk to hundreds of campaign staffers. She focused her calls at Wisconsin--where Ann Romney and Paul Ryan both campaigned on Tuesday.

I'm also told Mrs. Obama "thanked staff and volunteers, and wanted "to encourage them to keep up their great work through the homestretch. She also joined volunteers to make a few calls to supporters and learned about the President's early voting advantage in battleground states from senior campaign leadership."

Mrs. Obama spent Sunday and Monday nights in Chicago and will overnight again on Tuesday. She flies back to Washington on Wednesday morning. My post on Mrs. Obama flying to Chicago to get ahead of Hurricane Sandy is HERE.

WASHINGTON--Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) stumped in Ohio for President Barack Obama on Tuesday, targeting fellow Catholics in the battleground state where Obama is tied with Mitt Romney.

This was Durbin's second Ohio trip in the last two weeks. Durbin is in a unique position to talk about Obama, taking him under his wing when he was running in the 2004 general election for an Illinois Senate seat. Durbin was one of the first to urge Obama to run for president.

Durbin's Tuesday stops: In Cincinnati, Catholics for Obama phone banking, canvassing, get-out-the-vote drive and a talk to College Democrats at Xavier University a Jesuit, Catholic school. Also, in Dayton, another Catholics for Obama event, plus a number of Ohio radio interviews.

Last weekend, Mayor Rahm Emanuel targeted fellow Jews in Ohio; the weekend before that, he shored up the Jewish vote in Florida, another battleground.

Watch The Digital Campaign on PBS. See more from FRONTLINE.

Wonder why you got that call, direct mail or social media pitch for a candidate? It's part of the data driven digital campaigns where research is king.
For a look at how it works, the PBS NEWSHOUR Correspondent Hari Sreenivasan helped create The Digital Campaign.

(Sun-Times video by Jon Sall)

WASHINGTON--President Barack Obama will tour Hurricane Sandy damage on Wednesday with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie--and while off the campaign trail will be making a very presidential statement--helping one of his harshest critics recover from the storm.

Christie, who bashed Obama as a Chicago ward politician last August, had praise for him Tuesday in the wake of the disaster.

Meanwhile, Mitt Romney heads to Tampa later today.

WASHINGTON--President Barack Obama is visiting the Red Cross headquarters in Washington D.C. in the wake of Hurricane Sandy...developing...remarks to come. Obama also called mayors and governors all along the east coast hit by the storm.

Who was called, according to the White House...

Governor:

North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue

Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell

Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley

Delaware Governor Jack Markell

West Virginia Governor Earl Ray Tomblin

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett

New Jersey Governor Christopher Christie

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo

Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick

Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee

Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin

New Hampshire Governor John Lynch

Mayor:

District of Columbia Mayor Vincent Gray

City of Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake

Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter

City of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg

City of Newark Mayor Cory Booker

Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy

Atlantic City Mayor Lorenzo Langford

Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano

FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate

National Hurricane Center Director Dr. Rick Knabb

The President was joined in the Situation Room by Chief of Staff Jack Lew, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security John Brennan, Press Secretary Jay Carney, Deputy Chief of Staff Alyssa Mastromonaco, Deputy Assistant to the President for Homeland Security Richard Reed, White House Director of Intergovernmental Affairs David Agnew, Deputy Communications Director Jen Palmieri, and other senior members of the President's team.

WASHINGTON--New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie-- ferocious critic of President Barack Obama--who bashed him last August as "nothing more than a Chicago ward politician"--is praising him Tuesday for his Hurricane Sandy assistance to his storm battered state.

Christie, a major surrogate for Mitt Romney, is providing a testimonial to Obama a week before the election. Obama called Christie last night--as he did other New York and New Jersey officials who are dealing with the disaster.

"He called me last night around midnight, again, to say -- ask what else could be done and what we did last night. He was able to move forward very quickly with a major disaster declaration for New Jersey. He worked on that last night with me, offered any other assets that we need to help," Christie told George Stephanopoulos on ABC's "Good Morning America."

"i have to say the administration, the president himself and FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate have been outstanding with us so far. We have a great partnership with them, and I want to thank the president personally for his personal attention to this."

The day before Christie keynoted at the Republican National Convention he told the California delegation, "The president is nothing more than a Chicago ward politician," he said. ..."We've had enough of Chicago ward politics in the Oval Office. We need a real leader back in the Oval Office and we all got to work to get Mitt Romney there."

My column on Christie bashing Obama and Chicago is HERE.

WASHINGTON--Planned Parenthood's Action Fund--it's political arm--released a new video Tuesday aimed at the female vote and staring singer songwriter Mary J. Blige, actress Julianne Moore, and recording artist Q-Tip. The title, "Yes We Plan" is a play on the 2008 campaign slogan "Yes We Can." Music by Bryan-Michael Cox.

WASHINGTON--President Barack Obama scratched stumping in battleground Ohio on Wednesday to remain at the White House to deal with the impact of Hurricane Sandy.

WASHINGTON--Hurricane Sandy has knocked First Lady Michelle Obama off the campaign trail for Tuesday. She stumped in Iowa on Monday and overnighted in Chicago--where she was also scheduled to be on Sunday night. Mrs. Obama's office said she has no public events on Tuesday and will overnight in Chicago.

President Barack Obama is at the White House on Tuesday and will be off the trail on Wednesday as well.

WASHINGTON -- The close contest between Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama is frozen.

This historic pre-election monster storm takes politics into an all new zone of the unknown as the news cycle is saturated with hurricane coverage -- and not the latest back-and-forth between Romney and Obama or their surrogates.

The Romney and Obama teams are proceeding with caution. The worst thing is to be seen as doing politics in the midst of a disaster.

That's why Obama and Romney pulled back on the campaigning Monday and canceled events for Tuesday. What they do from now on is a day-by-day call.

Here are five ways Hurricane Sandy is affecting the campaign:1. The campaign itself is over. The election is a week from Tuesday, so there are not many days the men can use to make up canceled appearences. It's unlikely that either will be stumping again in two battlegrounds where the storm is hitting, New Hampshire and Virginia.

2. Romney doesn't get to deliver his final arguments. For Romney, the quick swing of the press from the election to the hurricane slows down what had been a swelling media narrative that he is winning -- and has momentum on his side.

The freeze comes as Romney is more forcefully arguing that he's the agent of change -- appropriating Obama's 2008 campaign theme. "And I'm very proud of the fact that our team has worked very hard to focus on what we will do to bring real change, big change to a country that badly needs it," Romney said Monday in Avon Lake, Ohio.

3. Obama steps back into his role as president, not candidate. This comes as polls indeed show trends in Romney's favor. ABC News on Monday night moved Pennsylvania and Minnesota from "safe" states for Obama to "lean" for the president. The Washington Post-ABC News tracking poll out Monday had a 49-49 national tie.

After Obama's White House news briefing on federal storm preparations, he was asked, "What about the impact on the election, sir?

Obama said: "I am not worried at this point about the impact on the election. I'm worried about the impact on families, and I'm worried about the impact on our first responders. I'm worried about the impact on our economy and on transportation. The election will take care of itself next week."

4. Early voting may end up playing to Obama's advantage. Though Romney's turnout operation is deeper than was Sen. John McCain's in 2008, the Obama team has been living and breathing the ground game. If the storm blows by quickly -- and power is restored -- lost early voting time can be made up.

Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said Monday, "We continue to believe that, on the ground, we're going to be able to turn out our voters in these final days. We feel very good about our ground game. We just want everyone up there and across the country to be very safe."

5. The Friday jobless numbers -- the last report before Election Day -- may fade in importance as the nation grapples with the fallout from Hurricane Sandy. While most federal offices in Washington were closed Monday and were to remain shut Tuesday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said it was its "intention" to release October's report Friday.

WASHINGTON--As Hurricane Sandy raged through the east coast and beyond Monday night this is what President Barack Obama was doing, according to a White House official:

"Throughout the night, the President was updated on the impacts of Sandy as it came ashore and moved inland. Overnight the President also spoke with New York Governor Cuomo, New Jersey Governor Christie, New York City Mayor Bloomberg, Jersey City Mayor Healy and Newark Mayor Booker. The President will also receive another briefing this a.m.

"Overnight the President also provided major disaster declarations for the states of New Jersey and New York - building on resources already available - and providing additional federal support for state and local efforts, as well as direct federal assistance to affected individuals in declared counties."

Updated with Duckworth react....

WASHINGTON--Outside groups are spending millions of dollars in Illinois House races with the most, so far, in a hotly contested race in central Illinois and the least in the Chicago area battle between Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) and Democrat Tammy Duckworth, according to Federal Election Commission records.

It appears that Duckworth's lead in the north/northwest suburban district has convinced outside groups--overall-- to keep their spending down. A close race between Rep. Bobby Schillling (R-Ill.) v Democrat Cheri Bustos in a district anchored near Peoria has spurred a spending war.

The FEC requires outside groups to report independent expenditures for or against a candidate. Outside spending is separate than money raised for a candidates' campaign. Independent expenditures consist of spending by individuals, groups, political committees, unions or corporations.

Under the rules, "these expenditures may not be made in concert or cooperation with or at the request or suggestion of a candidate, the candidate's campaign or a political party," according to the FEC.

With the election this close, spending above $1,000 must be reported to the FEC on a daily basis. The money is not divided equally. Duckworth spokesman Anton Becker said, "the ratio of outside spending is 10 to 1 against us and for Joe Walsh. I don't think the ratio is that one sided in the other races."

Here is the top spending in the most contested Illinois House races as of Monday, according to the FEC:

8th Congressional District, Walsh v Duckworth
$3,724,110.55

10th Congressional District, Rep. Bob Dold (R-Ill.) v Democrat Brad Schneider
$5,525,443.63

11th Congressional District, Rep. Judy Biggert (R-Ill.) v former Rep. Bill Foster (D-Ill.)
$7,315,025.71

12th Congressional District, Democrat William Enyart v Republican Jason Plummer
$5,469,597.78

13th Congressional District, Democrat David Gill v Republican Rodney Davis
$6,126,116.61

17th Congressional District, Rep. Bobby Schillling (R-Ill.) v Democrat Cheri Bustos
$8,202,639.41

Mayor Rahm Emanuel speaking at the Jewish Federation of Broward County, Daniel D. Cantor Senior Center in Sunrise, Florida on Oct. 21, 2012. Seated, to his left, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fl.) chairman of the Democratic National Committee (photo by Lynn Sweet)

WASHINGTON -- Mayor Rahm Emanuel does not often invoke his middle name. In shoring up the Jewish vote for President Barack Obama, it helps.

"I, Rahm Israel Emanuel, would not be here if I had a doubt or a sliver of a doubt about this president's commitment to the security and the safety of the state of Israel," Emanuel told a crowd of mostly seniors who filled a chandeliered ballroom in the clubhouse at Huntington Lakes, an "active adult" gated condo community in Delray Beach, Fla.

"I would not be here if I had a doubt. I wouldn't work in that office if I had a doubt," Emanuel, Obama's former chief of staff, said last Monday.

In the closing days of a contest in which Mitt Romney and Obama are locked in a tight race, both campaigns and their allies are heavily targeting Jewish voters in crucial battleground states.

Jews register, turn out

The national Jewish vote is tiny -- in 2008 a bit less than 2 percent -- but it went 74 percent for Obama, according to exit polls. Republicans are trying to grab some of those points.

Jewish political power is magnified because of political contributions from Jews -- especially on the high end -- and because Jews register and turn out. In this election, there are concentrations of Jews in the swing states of Florida, Ohio and Nevada -- enough to fight over.

According to projections by Ira Sheskin, the director of the University of Miami's Jewish Demography Project, about 6 percent of the Florida vote will be Jewish, 3 percent in Ohio and close to 4 percent in Nevada. "Quite clearly, switching 5 percent of the Jewish vote from the Democrats to the Republican can make a significant difference," Sheskin told me.

"Part of a presidential election is not only getting your voters to turn out but holding down the other guy's margins," Tevi Troy, a senior Romney adviser, told me.

The Obama campaign is using Emanuel to appeal to Jewish voters in the crucial battleground states of Florida and Ohio, where he is stumping Saturday and Sunday. Among Emanuel's Jewish-themed events is a brunch with Jewish community leaders in Akron.

Emanuel's father immigrated to Chicago from Israel, and his older brother, Ezekiel, was born in Israel. The Chicago-born Emanuel told me he spent summers in Israel as a youth, between 1967 and 1973.

Last Sunday, in South Florida, Emanuel packed the large sanctuary at Beth Am, a Reform synagogue near Miami, and then headed to the Daniel Cantor Senior Center in Sunrise, where he double-teamed with Democratic National Committee Chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) on her home turf.

At each stop, Emanuel invoked the name of Israeli Defense Minister and former Prime Minister Ehud Barak (with whom he met at City Hall on Sept. 20) as vouching for Obama as the "best president" Israel has had. Condo neighbors saying something else? Said Emanuel, "you better tell" Barak "he's all wet" and "somehow you know more than he does."

For Emanuel, it's about the pushback.

Romney team aggressive

The Romney team has been making a concerted effort to peel off Jewish voters -- focusing on a message that Obama has "thrown Israel under a bus." Hitting Obama on Israel is designed to plant doubts among an overwhelmingly Democratic voting bloc -- with many voters who also care very much about Medicare, Social Security, other social safety-net programs and abortion rights.

"Obama . . . Oy Vey!! Had enough?" blare 10 billboards in southern Florida paid for by the Republican Jewish Coalition, part of a $6.5 million drive to bolster Romney. In 2008, the coalition spent only about $1 million to try to defeat Obama.

Obama, like every U.S. president before him, is pro-Israel. The complaints I heard over and over in Florida had to do a lot with strategy and tactics -- should Obama have visited Israel when he was in the region in 2009 -- or developed a warmer relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu? There is worry about Iran's ability to launch a nuclear strike against Israel.

By the way -- on that matter of visiting Israel: former President Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush never went; his son, George W. Bush, traveled there in his eighth year as president.

Last Wednesday, at a Romney campaign office in Boca Raton, I talked to Burt Simon, a retired electrical contractor -- raised in Chicago, a Senn High School graduate -- a political independent who voted for John McCain in 2008. "I thought he snubbed Bibi," Simon said, using Netanyahu's nickname. "And I thought he should have visited Israel when he was in the Middle East."

Back at the condo clubhouse in Delray Beach, Obama campaign volunteer Nate Smith, a Boynton Beach retiree who came to hear Emanuel, told me he was worried because "too many Jewish people do not believe Obama is a friend of Israel."

Smith asked Emanuel during his talk, "How do you get through to these people?"

Both sides send in cavalry

In answering, Emanuel turned to the matter of Obama visiting Israel, to offer up the ammunition to get through: Obama had been to Israel twice before becoming president, Emanuel noted, and "a president goes not as a tourist. A president goes for strategic reasons."

A president does not just drop by.

Emanuel continued, telling the Delray group for Obama, "There are always new bars that are always set. 'You haven't done this, you haven't done that,' you don't feel it in your kishke,' said Emanuel, using the Yiddish word for gut.

Both campaigns are doing massive Jewish outreach in Florida and Ohio, sending in squads of surrogates.

The Republican Jewish Coalition's chief, former Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.); former Bush White House Secretary Ari Fleischer, and coalition executive director Matt Brooks are hitting Ohio on Monday, Nevada on Tuesday, and Florida at the end of the week.

". . . They can send Rahm Emanuel or whatever surrogates they want out there, but Jewish voters know there has not been the same warm relationship between the U.S. and Israel under this administration," Troy said.

Obama and Romney had a sharp exchange last week -- at their final debate in Boca Raton -- on Israel with Romney critical of Obama not visiting Israel when he was in the region. "By the way, you skipped Israel, our closest friend in the region, but you went to the other nations," Romney said.

In reply -- Obama was primed -- Obama noted that they both visited Israel as presidential candidates and unlike Romney, "I didn't take donors, I didn't attend fund-raisers. I went to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum there, to remind myself the nature of evil and why our bond with Israel will be unbreakable."

On Friday, the Obama campaign launched a new ad aimed at Jewish voters, highlighting Obama's response at the Boca Raton debate about the U.S. funding an Israeli missile system, Obama's 2008 Israel visit and sanctions on Iran.

On this, there is agreement: Said the coalition's Brooks: "One thing we know for sure is Jews are going to vote."

WASHINGTON--Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are scrubbing Monday afternoon and Tuesday events because of Hurricane Sandy. President Barack Obama already canceled Monday and Tuesday events. This puts both campaigns on hold to an extent in the final week before the election.

From the Romney campaign:

"Out of sensitivity for the millions of Americans in the path of Hurricane Sandy, we are canceling tonight's events with Governor Romney in Wisconsin and Congressman Ryan in Melbourne and Lakeland, Florida. We are also canceling all events currently schedule for both Governor Romney and Congressman Ryan on Tuesday. Governor Romney believes this is a time for the nation and its leaders to come together to focus on those Americans who are in harms way. We will provide additional details regarding Governor Romney's and Congressman Ryan's schedule when they are available." -- Gail Gitcho, Romney Communications Director

WASHINGTON--Former President Bill Clinton is on final week sprint for President Barack Obama--who will be loosing campaign days due to Hurricane Sandy. Clinton is stumping for Obama in Florida and Ohio on Monday--here is the rest of his schedule:

From the campaign:
Obama for America announced today that former President Bill Clinton will campaign this week in Minnesota, Iowa, Colorado, Ohio, Virginia, New Hampshire and Wisconsin. After joining Vice President Biden for a grassroots event in Youngstown Ohio today, President Clinton will travel to Minnesota for campaign rallies on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON--Hurricane Sandy has forced President Barack Obama to cancel more campaign activities--on Tuesday--one week before the election--Obama scrubbed a rally in battleground Wisconsin, in Green Bay. Mitt Romney stumps in a Milwaukee suburb on Monday night. Romney tapping Janesville Rep. Paul Ryan to be his running mate helped put Wisconsin in play.

Tom Bevan, over at RealClearPolitics.com is reporting from Wisconsin and asks if the Badger State is the new Ohio. Read the Bevan report HERE.

WASHINGTON--Obama campaign manager Jim Messina and senior adviser David Axelrod are briefing on the state of the race Monday at 11 a.m. est--eight days before the election and as the contest is thrown up in the air because of Hurricane Sandy.

WASHINGTON -- A monster storm is wrecking the last days of the presidential campaign, forcing President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney to revamp their closing strategies.

Both campaigns were using their formidable websites and social media tools to urge supporters to contribute to the Red Cross -- a rare unity of purpose and civility that has been otherwise absent in this hard-fought election battle.

Obama spent Sunday partly off the campaign trail, visiting the Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters, to check on the progress of Hurricane Sandy, hurling toward the east coast.

News coverage of the campaigns -- and likely ad viewings -- was diminished because of the storm; that might not have a significant impact at this stage since there is so much effort now from both Romney and Obama teams on the get-out-the-vote ground game.

Obama has the most at stake with the election just a week from Tuesday. If his administration is seen as botching a response to the impending disaster -- or if it looks as if he is campaigning instead of working on emergency planning -- it could cost him in his close race with Romney.

"My main message to everybody involved is that we have to take this seriously. The federal government is working effectively with the state and local governments. It's going to be very important that populations in all the impacted states take this seriously, listen to your state and local elected officials," Obama said at FEMA's offices.

"My message to the governors, as well as to the mayors, is anything they need, we will be there. And we're going to cut through red tape. We're not going to get bogged down with a lot of rules. We want to make sure that we are anticipating and leaning forward into making sure that we've got the best possible response to what is going to be a big and messy system."

Romney's campaign suspended fund-raising in the states to be hardest hit by the hurricane: Virginia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, New Jersey and Maryland, as well as the District of Columbia.

"Gov. Romney's concern is the safety and well being of those in the path of this storm, not political considerations," Romney spokesman Andrea Saul said.

Obama and Romney -- and their spouses and vice presidential running mates -- are focused on a handful of battleground states, and Hurricane Sandy forced them to cancel visits in key markets. Both teams were concerned that showing up in an area bracing for a storm would drain the resources of first-responders. The candidates usually also draw on local officials for security.

Obama on Monday was to have stumped in battlegrounds Florida, Ohio and Virginia with former President Bill Clinton, one of the top draws in the Democratic universe. Obama revised his schedule to fly to Orlando on Sunday to be in place for a Monday rally with Clinton -- in a state where early voting started on Saturday.

Visiting an Obama for America campaign office on Sunday, Obama told the volunteers he had to head back to Washington because "obviously, my first priority has to be to make sure that everything is in place."

In turn, that will put a "bit more burden on folks in the field because I'm not going to be able to campaign quite as much over the next couple of days," Obama said.

Because of the storm, Obama canceled an appearance with Clinton in Prince William County, a Washington suburb. And he scrubbed a stop in Youngstown, Ohio, with Clinton, sending in Vice President Joe Biden as a sub.

To make that work, Biden had to drop an event in battleground New Hampshire, which he would have had to cancel because Hurricane Sandy will be heading that far north.

First lady Michelle Obama was scheduled to spend Sunday night in Chicago; she left the White House on Sunday to get ahead of the hurricane and be in position to stump in Iowa on Monday. She returns to Chicago for Monday night. Her new schedule is a work in progress, with Tuesday stops in New Hampshire and Boston scratched.

An Ann Romney event in New Hampshire on Monday -- and another with her husband in the same state -- was canceled.

Romney stumps in the Milwaukee suburb of West Allis on Monday night, hitting battleground Wisconsin -- after stops in Ohio and Iowa -- avoiding any problems from Hurricane Sandy. He will headline the West Allis rally at the Expo Center at the State Fair Park.

Romney joined Paul Ryan on an Ohio bus tour Sunday after scuttling his Sunday Virginia stops because of the storm.

Rahm vs. McCain

Mayor Rahm Emanuel defended Obama on Libya and praised him as a decisive leader on Sunday, after Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) again accused Obama of either a "massive coverup or massive incompetence" over the Sept. 11 attacks where four Americans were killed.

Emanuel, Obama's former chief of staff and McCain, who ran against Obama in 2008, were guests on CBS' "Face the Nation," where they represented the Obama and Romney campaigns. Emanuel did the interview from Akron, spending the weekend in Ohio stumping for Obama.

WASHINGTON--President Barack Obama scratched an Orlando rally with former President Bill Clinton on Monday morning, instead flying back to the White House as the wrath of Hurricane Sandy is already starting to be felt on the east coast. Clinton will appear solo for Obama this morning and twin with Vice President Joe Biden later today for a rally in Youngstown, Ohio.

Obama flew to battleground Florida on Sunday to get ahead of Hurricane Sandy and rallied his troops last night at a campaign office where he delivered pizza and a pep talk. By Monday morning, the plan had changed and Obama was winging back to the White House to monitor the storm. A rally with Clinton in northern Virginia had already been cancelled.

WASHINGTON--President Barack Obama is further cutting back on his campaigning because of Hurricane Sandy, on Monday heading back to the White House after an event with former President Bill Clinton in Orlando, Fl. to deal with the storm. Obama and Clinton were supposed to stump in three battlegrounds on Monday: Florida, Virginia and Ohio. The northern Virginia event is scrubbed and Vice President Joe Biden will appear with Clinton in Youngstown, Ohio.

Statement by the Press Secretary on Additional Changes to the President's Travel on Monday

The President continues to be regularly updated on the storm. Today, he participated in an operations briefing at the National Response Coordination Center at FEMA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. During the briefing, FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate updated the President on ongoing deployments of teams and resources by federal partners to support state and local responders in potentially affected areas. The President also received an update on the storm from National Hurricane Director Rick Knabb, and later spoke directly with Governors and Mayors from potentially impacted states to ensure there were no unmet needs. The President continues to receive regular updates on the storm, and continues to direct his team to make sure all available resources are brought to bear to support state and local partners.

(photo by Lynn Sweet)

WASHINGTON--Getting ready for Hurricane Sandy this afternoon. Broke the glass top of patio table moving it so it would not get blown. Moved planters. Flashlights by the door. Water bottles full. Wind up emergency flashlight and radio (see photo above) handy. Electronic gizmos charged. Taking in rocking chairs off the front porch. Cleared out front gutters.

Will sleep downstairs tonight, in case tree next door falls on the house. Happens all the time here.

WASHINGTON--President Barack Obama, knocked off the campaign trail by Hurricane Sandy promised local officials a "powerful response" and to "cut through red tape" to give them any assistance needed. He urged all to take the threat of the storm "seriously."

From the White House: While at FEMA the President participated in a briefing with federal partners including FEMA regional directors. In the briefing the President was joined by FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate, FEMA Deputy Administrator Richard Serino, Deputy Chief of Staff Alyssa Mastromonaco, Deputy Assistant to the President for Homeland Security Richard Reed. Other members of the FEMA leadership team were also part of the briefing. National Hurricane Center Director Rick Knabb joined by video conference.