A hurricane, a escalating war, and a looming strike present Harris with a series of new crises

WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are scrambling to revise travel plans and tactics as they wait in real time to try to deal with unexpected crises: a triple threat of life-threatening weather, war and a looming longshore strike that could drive up prices.

The challenge for Harris is to shape the government’s response without politicizing a moment that calls for overcoming national divisions.

Trump’s dilemma is that any condemnation he issues could draw attention to his own actions in 2017, when he blithely threw paper towels to Puerto Ricans plagued by Hurricane Maria.

“These storms are a defining event for elected leaders when disaster strikes,” said Whit Ayres, a Republican pollster. “When there are seven swing states left in the election that are essentially tied at this point, and several of those swing states have suffered extraordinary damage as a result of this storm, then everyone the impact at the margin in these swing states could impact the outcome at the national level.”

Harris canceled campaign stops and left the Nevada trail on Monday, rushing back to Washington for an in-person briefing with federal emergency management officials on the damage from Hurricane Helene.

“Thank you for showing up on our behalf,” Erik Hooks, deputy administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, told her.

Harris plans to visit areas affected by the storm “as quickly as possible without disrupting rescue efforts,” a White House official said.

Trump traveled to Valdosta, Georgia, on Monday to inspect storm damage and express “solidarity” with those affected by the natural disaster that has killed at least 120 people and left 2 million customers without power in several Southern states.

Trump told a news conference at a furniture store in Georgia that politics should play no role in the nation’s recovery efforts, while falsely criticizing his enemies over their handling of the storm response.

Trump suggested that Brian Kemp, Georgia’s Republican governor, who was not at the event, was “unable to reach” President Joe Biden by phone to discuss the storm’s impact, even though Kemp told reporters they spoke on Sunday evening.

“He just said, ‘Hey, what do you need?'” Kemp told the media about his conversation with Biden. “I told him, ‘You know, we have what we need. We will go through the federal process.”

Harris also spoke with Kemp and officials in other communities affected by the storm, which she flew home on Air Force Two on Monday, a White House official said. Trump later ridiculed a photo she posted on social media along with a description of her conversation with officials.

The path of the hurricane was not lost in any campaign. Communities in two battleground states that could decide the election – North Carolina and Georgia – are looking for federal aid and leadership in the fight to rebuild.

In North Carolina, recent polls from CNN and Marist College showed Harris and Trump tied at 49%. And in Georgia, which Biden won in 2020, a recent Fox News poll showed Harris up 51-48%, while CBS News showed Trump leading by 51-49%.

The pool of undecided voters is small, but analysts say the executive temperament Harris and Trump show in the coming weeks could prove significant in an election that will remain a toss-up.

An example would be North Carolina. The western part of the state is a predominantly Republican rural region surrounding two blue dots centered around Asheville and Boone, cities that were among the hardest hit. Biden easily carried Buncombe County, which includes Asheville, 60% to 39% in 2020.

“There is a pretty simple formula for determining whether campaigns are helpful or not,” said Caitlin Legacki, a Democratic strategist and former Biden administration official. “For example, Harris’ team was already using email lists and social media accounts in North Carolina to provide information and resources to their followers. You’ll likely see field offices temporarily used as food banks and donation collection points. These are productive ways for campaigns to engage with humanitarian aid.”

The cascading developments in the U.S. and abroad offer both candidates a chance to gain or lose ground in a race where little appears to be changing the trajectory.

The argument Harris and Democrats have made to her is that they are more competent than Trump and better suited to run the federal government.

“This week’s events demonstrate how important it is to have a president who takes seriously the challenges facing the country and the world,” said a Harris campaign official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak freely about campaign dynamics. “Donald Trump is not serious. He complains about his hair and Johnny Carson and fans the flames of division. The vice president is helping lead the federal response to the disaster, including thousands of federal personnel sent to help.”

But the fallout from the storm – with an escalation in the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah and a potential port strike that could disrupt supply chains – threatens the core messages of Harris’ campaign.

It belongs to the Biden administration, which convinced voters that it would prevent problems or prevent them from spreading. Presidents are not responsible for disputes between unions and management. They also cannot control the weather or dictate the course of events on a battlefield almost 10,000 km away. But fair or not, society can still hold them accountable.

Alex Conant, a Republican strategist who worked in the George W. Bush White House during Hurricane Katrina, said people tend to blame the federal government for its abysmal response to natural disasters, even when the effort is handled largely by state and local governments.

“Emergencies like these can certainly derail campaign plans,” Conant said. “Ultimately, people expect the federal government to respond and will blame the administration if the response is inadequate.”

As for the war in the Middle East, Harris did not answer reporters’ questions about worsening conditions before she boarded a plane back to Washington.

On Saturday, after Hezbollah commander Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli operation, Harris said that “Hezbollah victims received justice” after the death of “a terrorist with American blood on his hands.”

She stressed that she and Biden want to prevent an escalation of tensions between Israel and its Arab neighbors.

“We have been working on a diplomatic solution along the Israel-Lebanon border so that people can return home safely on both sides of the border,” she said. “Diplomacy remains the best path to protecting civilians and achieving lasting stability in the region.”

Seeking to seize the moment, Trump tried to paint Harris as inept in her response to the hurricane. He attacked Harris on social media for a photo she posted of a Federal Emergency Management Agency training flight on Air Force Two.

“Another FALSE and STAGED photo taken by someone who has no idea what he is doing,” Trump posted on Truth Social on Monday. “You have to plug the cable into your phone for it to work!”

Trump’s criticism of Harris could expose him to accusations that as president he mishandled hurricanes on his watch. He once appeared to use a Sharpie to show on a map that Hurricane Dorian was threatening Alabama, even though it was not. Subsequently, reports emerged that he once asked officials if he could use an atomic bomb to destroy a hurricane.

One of the enduring images of Trump’s presidency is him throwing rolls of paper towels to a crowd of Puerto Ricans during his 2017 visit after Hurricane Maria hit the island. Some critics considered this gesture callous, considering the scale of suffering.

“He saw it as a photo op,” said Nikki Fried, chairwoman of the Florida Democratic Party.