Helene and Milton Shake Up the 2024 Presidential Campaign \ Newslooks \ Washington DC \ Mary Sidiqi \ Evening Edition \ Hurricanes Helene and Milton have disrupted the final weeks of the presidential election, with Vice President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump using the storms to highlight their leadership on disaster recovery. Harris has emphasized bipartisan cooperation in the face of natural disasters, while Trump has criticized the Biden-Harris administration’s response, accusing them of neglecting Republican areas. The storms have also caused logistical challenges for voters in key states.
Hurricanes Shake Up Campaign Quick Looks:
- Hurricanes Helene and Milton have disrupted campaign schedules and sparked debates on disaster response.
- Harris has used the opportunity to project leadership alongside President Biden, calling for bipartisan efforts.
- Trump has accused the administration of withholding aid from Republican areas, despite no evidence.
- Storm damage in key battleground states like Georgia and North Carolina has altered voting logistics.
- FEMA’s strained resources and the need for additional funding have added pressure on the Biden administration.
Deep Look:
A pair of back-to-back hurricanes, Helene and Milton, have emerged as major issues in the final weeks of the presidential election, reshaping both the candidates’ schedules and the public’s focus. Both Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have been forced to pivot their campaign strategies as they navigate the fallout from these destructive storms. With Election Day just weeks away, the hurricanes have not only tested their leadership but also disrupted the voting process in critical battleground states.
For both candidates, the hurricanes have underscored the critical role the presidency plays in disaster response. Once a more peripheral issue in national campaigns, managing natural disasters has become a key test of leadership, especially as climate-related crises become more frequent. Hurricanes Helene and Milton have put this issue at the forefront of the political debate, with each candidate trying to present themselves as the more capable leader.
Vice President Kamala Harris, seeking to demonstrate calm leadership, has appeared alongside President Joe Biden during briefings on the hurricanes. She has focused on projecting competence, emphasizing the need for bipartisan cooperation in recovery efforts. Speaking at a press event after a hurricane briefing, Harris said, “This is not a time for politics. We need to focus on getting aid to those in need, regardless of political affiliation.”
Former President Donald Trump, on the other hand, has used the hurricanes as an opportunity to attack the Biden-Harris administration’s handling of the crisis. During a recent rally, Trump claimed that the administration had failed the victims of Hurricane Helene, particularly in Republican-heavy areas like North Carolina, although there is no evidence to support his claims. “They’ve let those people suffer unjustly,” Trump said, attempting to cast doubt on the administration’s disaster relief efforts.
As both candidates have made visits to hurricane-ravaged areas like Georgia and North Carolina, the storms have forced them to cancel campaign events elsewhere. In doing so, the hurricanes have shifted the race’s dynamic, drawing attention away from some of the other pressing issues voters are concerned about, such as the economy and immigration. Both states, which are political battlegrounds, have become even more critical as the candidates seek to demonstrate their ability to respond to crises.
The hurricanes have also caused logistical challenges in the voting process. In North Carolina, the state’s Board of Elections has passed a resolution to help voters in affected counties cast their ballots. Florida, another state hit hard by the storms, has granted counties greater flexibility in distributing mail-in ballots and setting up polling sites. However, in Georgia, a federal judge ruled that the state does not need to reopen voter registration despite the disruptions caused by Hurricane Helene.
These logistical issues are adding pressure to the already strained Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Small Business Administration (SBA). With the damage from Hurricane Milton alone estimated at $50 billion, the Biden administration is facing mounting criticism over whether enough funding is available to address the aftermath. Biden acknowledged the pressure on FEMA during a recent briefing, saying, “The resources we have are stretched thin, and it’s critical we get more funding to respond to these disasters.”
Analysts agree that the hurricanes have added a new layer of complexity to the election. Timothy Kneeland, a professor at Nazareth University, pointed out that natural disasters are increasingly seen as a key test of leadership. “Dealing with back-to-back crises will put FEMA under more scrutiny, and therefore, the Biden administration will be under a microscope in the days leading up to the election,” Kneeland said. “Vice President Harris must empathize with the victims without altering the campaign schedule and provide consistent messaging on the widespread devastation.”
While Harris has been highly visible in the administration’s response, attending virtual briefings and appearing at press conferences, Trump has sought to focus on what he describes as the administration’s failures. He has repeatedly compared the response to Hurricane Helene with President George W. Bush’s widely criticized handling of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. “This is worse than Katrina,” Trump declared during a rally in Wisconsin, despite the differences in the scope of the two disasters.
Trump’s strategy seems to be resonating with some voters. At a Univision town hall in Las Vegas, Harris was asked by a voter from Tampa, Florida, whether people in the path of Hurricane Milton would have access to sufficient aid. The question reflected concerns that the administration’s disaster relief may not be reaching those in need. Harris responded by assuring voters that the administration was focused on recovery, calling out the “misinformation” spread by Republicans. “We are committed to getting aid to every person who needs it,” she said.
The misinformation campaign around the storms has been a major theme in Trump’s rhetoric. He has falsely claimed that victims are receiving only $750 in aid, a charge that has been thoroughly debunked. Trump’s allies have also circulated misleading statements about the administration diverting emergency funds to support immigrants, which the White House has denied.
Candace Bright Hall-Wurst, a sociology professor at East Tennessee State University, observed that natural disasters have increasingly become politicized in the U.S., often overshadowing the actual needs of the victims. “Disasters are politicized when they have political value to the candidate,” Hall-Wurst said. “This does not mean that the politicization is beneficial to the victims.”
Despite the rhetoric, some experts believe that the hurricanes may not significantly influence voters by Election Day. John Gasper, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University who has studied disaster response, said, “These disasters essentially end up being good tests of leadership for local, state, and federal officials in how they respond, but in such a polarized political environment, other issues like the economy may still dominate voters’ choices.”
The final weeks of the campaign will likely see continued back-and-forth over the administration’s handling of the hurricanes. However, with so many other factors at play, from inflation to foreign policy, it remains to be seen how much of an impact these storms will have on the election’s outcome.
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