Fully focused on gearing up his entire administrative machinery towards preparing for potentially devastating Hurricane Sandy, US President Barack Obama today said that he is not worried about elections, which is about a week from now.

“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,” Obama told reporters at a White House news conference soon after he held a situation room meeting on the hurricane preparedness.

Obama, who is seeking his re-election and was intensively campaigning in key battleground states, has halted his election campaign midway and returned from Florida this morning after cancelling his meeting in Orlando.

He has also cancelled his election meetings on Tuesday.

“You know, the election will take care of itself next week. Right now, our number-one priority is to make sure that we are saving lives, that our search-and-rescue teams are going to be in place, that people are going to get food, the water, the shelter that they need in case of emergency, and that we respond as quickly as possible to get the economy back on track,” Obama said.

Florida is one of the key battle ground States, the results of which would determine the next occupant to the White House.

On Monday, a CNN/ORC poll revealed that Obama is tied up with his Republican challenger Mitt Romney in Florida. Fifty likely voters opted for Romney and 49 per cent picking Obama.

“The results are unchanged from a similar survey in mid- October, and indicate the number of truly undecided voters in the Sunshine State is nearly non-existent,” the reports said.

The poll also shows men in Florida continue to prefer Romney, 55 per cent to 43 per cent, while women tend to prefer Obama, 54 per cent to 45 per cent.

Related Topics