Partisan politics have been put aside in the wake of Hurricane Sandy as elected officials seek to restore a sense of normalcy to the state. Even, Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie have put aside their differences.
On Wednesday, Malloy sent Christie a Blackhawk helicopter and President Barack Obama paid one of the hardest hit states a visit where he toured the damage and offered assistance.
During his morning briefing Malloy said he planned to reach out to both Christie and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to see if he could offer their states any assistance. By the afternoon he was unable to get a hold of either governor, but said his staff was able to arrange the logistics.
In case anyone in Connecticut is worried the state has four more helicopters, and under the mutual aid agreement can recall the one it lent New Jersey if it needs it.
“As some of the jobs that we need to complete are completed in Connecticut and the people who do that are freed up, then we’ll lend them accordingly,” Malloy said. “The helicopter seemed like a relatively easy thing to do.”
“Sometimes the fun of the jarring going around between governor’s has to be put aside,” Malloy said. “As we progress in our recovery we will do everything we can to help our neighbors. That’s who we are.”
When Christie was in Connecticut last week campaigning with Republican U.S. Sen. Candidate Linda McMahon, Malloy also lent him a state trooper during his visit to the state.
Christie, a surrogate for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, was complimentary of Obama during his visit to the Garden state on Wednesday.
“I cannot thank the President enough for his personal concern and compassion for our state and for the people of our state,“ Christie said during Obama‘s visit to Brigantine, New Jersey.
When the plane landed in Atlantic City Wednesday, Obama’s spokesman Jay Carney, declined to address the optics of visit or the political message it may send.
“This is a time to focus on what was a devastating storm and the terrible aftermath of that storm,“ he told the pool reporter. “New Jersey was by many measures the hardest hit state, I believe that’s correct. It is entirely appropriate for the president to visit New Jersey and receive updates on the efforts there to recover and to view first hand the damage inflicted by Sandy. This is not a time for politics.”
