Obama, Christie Tour New Jersey Damage

President Barack Obama toured a devastated New Jersey Wednesday to see the damage done by Hurricane Sandy and to discuss with local officials the recovery efforts underway, a White House spokesperson said.

New Jersey Republican governor Chris Christie accompanied the president for the tour.

Christie said he would seek federal support to help restore the New Jersey beachfront according to NBC, adding “it won’t be the same because some of the iconic things are washed into the ocean.”

On Tuesday, Christie, an early endorser of Mitt Romney as the Republican presidential nominee, praised President Obama and the federal response to the storm after Hurricane Sandy crossed the New Jersey coast, bringing widespread wind and water damage.

“The president has been all over this and he deserves great credit,” Christie told Fox News, dismissing concerns about the politics involved so close to the election.

“I’ve got a job to do here in New Jersey that’s much bigger than presidential politics, and I couldn’t care less about any of that stuff. I have a job to do… I’ve got 2.4 million people out of power. I’ve got devastation on the Shore. I’ve got floods in the northern part of my state,” Christie said speaking on “Fox & Friends” Tuesday morning.

“If you think right now I give a damn about presidential politics, then you don’t know me,” Christie said.

Coastal casino resort Atlantic City was hit particularly hard by the storm as was Seaside Heights, which remains covered in sand and water according to news reports.

Obama will resume his presidential campaign Thursday with events in Las Vegas, Nevada and Boulder, Colorado. He cancelled three days of campaigning to monitor the federal response to the storm.

Campaign strategist David Axelrod dismissed suggestions the president was seeking to capitalize politically on the New Jersey visit.

“This was a disaster of huge proportions and the President is doing what his responsibilities require and that includes going to New Jersey as he has done in the case of every major disaster during the course of his presidency,” he said in a morning conference call with reporters Wednesday.

Axelrod said it was Obama who decided to remain in Washington during Hurricane Sandy’s passage up the coast. The President wanted to get a sense of the scope of the damage and stay in close contact with those federal agencies handling the response Axelrod explained.

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