By Mark Felsenthal
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J., Oct 31 (Reuters) - President Barack
Obama and Republican Governor Chris Christie put aside partisan
differences on Wednesday to visit storm-swamped parts of New
Jersey together and oversee relief efforts after the devastation
of the storm Sandy.
Obama and Christie lifted off by helicopter under cloudy
skies for an hour-long aerial tour of affected areas. With them
was Federal Emergency Management Administration director Craig
Fugate.
Despite being a top surrogate for Obama's election rival
Mitt Romney, Christie has lavished praise on Obama for
organizing federal government support during the storm.
Christie was Obama's only greeter on the tarmac when Air
Force One landed in Atlantic City.
After suspending campaign events since Sunday, the president
has been in charge of federal relief efforts for Sandy,
monitoring the path of the storm and keeping abreast of
post-storm assistance. He is to resume campaigning with a visit
to the western battleground state of Nevada on Thursday.
With an extremely close election looming Tuesday, Obama has
remained in the public spotlight, while Romney has had to
suspend campaign appearances to avoid coming across as overly
political while millions of people were affected by the storm.
The storm and the government's relief efforts have prompted
a U-turn in the tone of Christie's rhetoric about the president.
The New Jersey governor leveled harsh criticism at Obama during
a keynote speech at the Republican convention in August.
But all that has changed with the damage wrought by Sandy,
which bashed the mid-Atlantic Coast on Monday and Tuesday.
(Editing By Alistair Bell and Mohammad Zargham)
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