5 hits and 5 misses on the campaign trail, Oct. 29-Nov. 2

Hits:

1. Bipartisanship in a crisis. What a concept. Rush Limbaugh derided it as “man love,” but what we actually saw with Barack Obama and Chris Christie in  New Jersey was the way things are supposed to work. Politics and party should be subordinated to the work at hand when the country faces a crisis. Unfortunately that is no longer the norm, so it looked all the more startling. Cynics will point to the fact that a Christie presidential bid could be four years closer if Romney loses. Alternatively, it could just have been about two leaders, leading. Advantage: New Jersey and the country.

2. 171,000. Jobs, that is. The unemployment rate, announced Friday morning, ticked up from 7.8 to 7.9. But the decent job-growth total, announced at the same time, coupled with upward revisions of jobs number from the last couple of months, gave new credence to the president’s mantra that things are slowly but steadily getting better. The Obama camp simply needed to avoid a disaster. The Romney camp needed a startling return to an unemployment rate over 8 percent. That would have given the campaign a huge lift, but it may have been the last news-related chance for Romney bounce. Advantage: Obama.

3.  From Flohiva to Minnegania. The Romney campaign declared this week that the electoral map was getting bigger because the challenger was surprisingly competitive in Minnesota, Michigan and Pennsylvania, and they scheduled ad buys and campaign stops there. State polling shows those races tightening, particularly in Pennsylvania,  but they also showed Obama’s small swing-state leads in Ohio and Virginia to be enduring. Democrats scoffed at the notion that the map was truly expanding — but with plenty of money and an abundance of caution, they placed their own ad campaigns and sent Bill Clinton and Joe Biden out on the hustings, even as the President tended to Hurricane Sandy business. Who’s right about the situation on the ground in these states? We’ll see, but the president has consistently led the polling. Advantage: Obama.

4. New Jersey’s present, America’s future? Many of the Northeast’s leaders met the challenge of helping their citizens through the disaster. Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo all did admirably. But nobody could top the incredible public-service work of Christie, who was seemingly everywhere in his state, reaching out to people in distress and making things happen one-on-one.  Ditto Newark Mayor Cory Booker, who was seen for days personally delivering emergency supplies and constantly interacting with citizens of his damaged city on his Twitter feed,. Both were  inspiring to many — and both clearly have national political futures.  (Question: What if Romney had chosen Christie as his veep candidate, and he had gone from campaign to this work in New Jersey? That’s an Obama nightmare.) Also, it’s wonderful to see Booker, Malloy, etc., using social media as a force for good, not just politics. Advantage: Citizens.

5. Nicer Mitt. The softening that began during the debates, from “severe conservative” to moderate, suffused the candidate’s final week of campaigning (with the noted exception of the Ohio attack ads — see below). With Sandy distracting much of the country, Romney correctly sensed it was not time for hyperpartisanship. He’s been … human on the campaign trail. Call it Etch-a-Sketch if you want, but you could also call it essential to victory. Whether it’s enough or in time is the question. Advantage: Romney.

Misses:

1. Where’s the money from? John Cornyn’s credibility is on the line — not in the Lone Star State but in Missouri. Somewhere, Todd Akin got $1.75 million to run a last-weekend barrrage of advertising. The state party didn’t have the money and neither did Akin’s campaign. Cornyn has repeatedly said the Republican Senate Campaign Committee, which he heads, would not fund Akin’s campaign after his “legitimate rape” remarks. But Akin has managed to stay very competitive in the race up to the final weekend. So did Cornyn and RSCC go back on its word? They’re not saying, and neither are Akin or Missouri party officials. Campaign disclosure reports won’t come out until after the election. But come out they will. Cornyn is in the unenviable spot of either having to go back on his word or watch hopes for a GOP majority in the Senate evaporate with a Democratic hold in Missouri. Advantage: Akin, but at what cost?

2.  Power and gasoline. As the federal government rushes to help the victims of Sandy however it can, it’s impossible not to notice what it can’t seem to do — get gasoline to the storm-damaged areas or goose the electric utilitities to restore power faster. People are grumbling and fed up about being without power. Fistfights and even gunplay have broken out in gasoline lines, giving us a chilling reminder of our continued fossil-fuel dependence. Those conditions are a red flag for Obama, who will, rightly or wrongly, take the lion’s share of blame for such frustrations. The president will still easily carry New York, Connecticut and New Jersey. But it could hurt in Pennsylvania, particularly in key suburbs. Advantage: Romney.

3. Don’t let the facts get in the way. And if they do, suppress them. The Congressional Research Office, a nonpartisan part of the Library of Congress which has been valued by both parties over the years for its analysis of complex issues, withdrew a tax research report after complaints from the Republican congressional leadership. The problem: It dared refer to the “Bush tax cuts” and “tax cuts for the rich,” language the Republicans found to be politically loaded. A bigger problem: It undercut a central tenet of the conservative conversation on taxes and the wealthy: The old trickle-down theory that holds if you cut taxes on the wealthy, everybody benefits. The flap over the report is a perfect illustration of how far we have to go before we can arrive at a “grand bargain” on taxes and budget. Advantage: None.

4. Too little, very late on climate change. Suddenly this week, politicians like Chuck Schumer and Andrew Cuomo were talking about climate change as a real issue. Now we know what it takes to focus attention there — a storm that crippled Manhattan. To his credit, Michael Bloomberg has consistently spoken forcefully about  issues that dare not be raised in presidential politics — climate change and gun control major among them. This week, he was moved to endorse President Obama. The reason: He believes the president will be more courageous on the issue than his own party’s candidate. It was a surprising and pointed move. Unfortunately, it comes too late to force enough attention to the issue in the presidential campaign. Neither candidate has done the country any kind of a service by consistently avoiding the issue on the campaign trail.  Advantage: Obama.

5. CEOs lash out — against Romney? “Cynical campaign politics at its worst,” said GM spokesman Greg Martin. He was referring to the Romney auto-bailout advertisement that suggested Chrysler and GM were shifting jobs to China. Sergio Marchionne, Chrysler’s executive, was equally blunt: “Jeep production will not be moved from the United States to China. It is inaccurate to suggest anything different.” It was most unusual for corporate leaders to take a swipe at a GOP standard-bearer this late in a campaign. Whether the ad was a sign of desperation, or a move to take Romney over the top in a razor-thin race, it clearly exposed the candidate to a dangerous backlash. Advantage: Obama.

David McCumber, Washington Bureau Chief