Political geeks might want to keep an eye on how two men handle disaster response this week because 4-years from now we may be watching them for very different reasons.
We all want people to be safe as Hurricane Sandy heads for our shores and two of the most influential men in politics are doing everything they can to make that happen.
These are men who, absent this storm, would be spending the week out on the campaign trail rallying key votes for their party's Presidential candidates.
But governing comes before politics, especially in times like this.
If Mitt Romney wins next week's election only half of this is true. But if President Obama wins a second term then 2016 becomes a wide open race.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (Democrat) and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (Republican) immediately vault to the top of their respective party's candidates for 2016 too.
I have watched both closely over the last few years. I have watched Cuomo rise from Attorney General to Governor. I covered Christie many years ago when I was working in Philadelphia and he was making news as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New Jersey.
We'll all be tracking the news as this major storm devastates the population centers of New York and New Jersey beginning today/Monday. We'll all be watching how these men have prepared, how they respond, and how they follow through with emergency response and relief.
Everyone's safety is our first concern. It's surely the #1 concern of both these men.
But forgive me if the political geek inside me also monitors how each men respond because they could be household names, if not head-to-head opponents, exactly four years from now.
---Sean Carroll
