FOXNews.com: Hurricane Sandy scrambles campaign schedule, Romney cancels Virginia rallies

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Hurricane Sandy scrambles campaign schedule, Romney cancels Virginia rallies Oct 27th 2012, 18:33 Mitt Romney has cancelled all of his Sunday rallies in Virginia as a precaution ahead of Hurricane Sandy moving closer to the East Coast, the campaign said Saturday. The Republican presidential nominee will instead campaign in Ohio with running mate Paul Ryan. Campaign officials told Fox News the decision was made after consulting with Virginia Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell and emergency personnel, saying it was a "cautionary move to make sure emergency resources would not be diverted." Romney was scheduled to appear first at a noon rally in Haymark, then a late afternoon event in Richmond, followed by an evening one in Virginia Beach. Romney will join Ryan's bus tour first in Celina, Ohio. They will then campaign together in Findlay and Marion. Sandy -- upgraded to a Hurricane again Saturday just hours after forecasters said it had weakened to a tropical storm -- was barreling north from the Caribbean and was expected to make landfall early Tuesday near the Delaware coast, then hit two winter weather systems as it moves inland, creating a hybrid monster storm. Even if Sandy loses strength and makes landfall as something less than a hurricane, the combined storm was expected to bring misery to a huge section of the East. An 800-mile wide swath of the country could see 50 mph winds regardless of Sandy's strength. Experts said the storm could be wider and stronger than Irene, which caused more than $15 billion in damage, and could rival the worst East Coast storm on record. On Saturday morning, forecasters said hurricane-force winds of 75 mph could be felt 100 miles away from the storm's center. Up and down the coast, people were cautioned to be prepared for days without electricity. Jersey   Even at this late date in the campaign, neither the Romney nor Obama campaigns wanted to risk the appearance of putting politics ahead of public safety. The president pressed on with a campaign trip Saturday to New Hampshire but held a conference call with administration officials about emergency preparations from aboard Air Force One. Campaign spokesman Jennifer Psaki said the Obama team is continuing to promote early voting as something that provides flexibility for busy families but she added that "safety comes first and that's the case with early voting as well." However, a rally Saturday with Vice President Joe Biden in Virginia Beach was cancelled. Officials said the decision was "taken out of an abundance of caution to ensure that all local law enforcement and emergency management resources can stay focused on ensuring the safety of people who might be impacted by the storm." Though none of Obama's campaign stops have been canceled, the president did adjust his travel schedule slightly. The campaign moved up his planned Monday departure for Florida to Sunday night to beat the storm. One prominent Romney supporter, Gov. Chris Christie, R-N.J., said Saturday he told the campaign he couldn't travel on Tuesday because he wanted to keep tabs on the storm. With the Nov. 6 election fast approaching, Obama and Romney are tied nationally. But the president still appears to have more ways to reach the required 270 electoral votes. The Obama campaign released a new TV ad Saturday urging Americans when they go into the voting booth to consider Romney's plans to roll back Wall Street reforms, transform Medicare into a voucher-like system and reduce spending on education while at the same time cutting taxes for the rich. The spot will air in Florida, Iowa, Ohio and Virginia, all key battleground states. The Republican nominee is trying to seize the momentum and turn a wave of GOP enthusiasm into an electoral victory. Obama campaign spokeswoman Jen Psaki threw water on the whole idea, saying Romney's team was "working overtime to spin that he has momentum." Obama's campaign pressed forward with a get-out-the-vote effort that aides said had them leading or tied in every competitive state. The president was eschewing the lofty rhetoric of his 2008 run in favor of warning supporters that skipping out on voting could cost him the election. "In 2000, Gore vs. Bush, 537 votes changed the direction of history in a profound way and the same thing could happen," Obama said in an interview Friday with MTV. Romney was switching his attention to Florida on Saturday after spending much of the week focused on shoring up support in Ohio. While the Midwestern swing state could be crucial to Romney's re-election prospects, he also faces tremendous pressure to carry Florida, which offers 29 Electoral College votes, the most of any swing state. Obama carried Florida by just 3 percentage points in 2008 and polls show the candidates tied. The former Massachusetts governor was scheduled to attend three rallies, the first in Pensacola along the state's conservative Panhandle. He then moves to suburban Orlando before finishing his day with an evening rally just outside of Tampa, the site of the Republican National Convention. Romney was to be joined at all three events by Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. Ryan had his family in tow for the factory visit in New Philadelphia, and his 7-, 9- and 10-year-olds scampered between parts bins and heavy chains. Nine-year-old Charlie waved the peace sign and mugged for cameras, prompting his mother, Janna Ryan, to shake her head and declare, "I don't know where he gets it. It's kind of crazy." The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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