Romney should have...

“The Romney campaign was gaining a little momentum. Superstorm Sandy hit and you feel all the momentum gone,” he said. “I think Gov. Romney has diminished himself in the last couple days. It’s important to do what Chris Christie did. Mitt Romney would have got much further to say, ‘I’m 100 percent behind the president. We are Americans right now, his leadership is important for the country.’”

How is he responding? Reuters:

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney returned to campaign attacks against President Barack Obama on Thursday after a pause for the storm Sandy, hitting the Democrat for proposing more government bureaucracy.

But what did big government just achieve?

FEMA's success so far may be particularly important for Obama in a way that it wouldn't have been for other presidents. One of the overarching themes of the presidential race has been the role of the federal government. Mitt Romney's campaign has run largely on getting it out of our lives, while Obama has championed the good that federal government can do. (That was the forgotten point of his "you didn't build that" speech.) In these waning days of the campaign, a big, splashy demonstration of efficient federal governance just might help Obama win that argument with whatever decision-impaired voters still remain in the American electorate. And having Chris Christie vouch for him doesn't hurt one bit: Obama couldn't have asked for a better closing image for his re-election campaign than a tarmac handshake with the rock star of the Republican party.

So, who is going to win? Rove says...

“Sometime after the cock crows on the morning of Nov. 7, Mitt Romney will be declared America’s 45th president,” Rove wrote on Wednesday night. “Let’s call it 51%-48%, with Mr. Romney carrying at least 279 Electoral College votes, probably more.”
He argued that Romney has a “small but persistent polling edge,” leading in 19 of the 31 national surveys released in the last week, he said, and the GOP candidate “was at or above 50 percent in 10 polls, Obama in none.” President Barack Obama was ahead in seven of the polls, Rove said, and five were tied.

Nate Silver...

Mr. Obama had one more terrible day in the polls, on Friday, Oct. 12, when Mr. Romney’s chances of winning the Electoral College rose to almost 40 percent in the forecast. But that was when Mr. Romney’s momentum stopped.

Since then, Mr. Obama’s standing has rebounded slightly. His position in the national polls has stabilized; although the national polls continue to tell a different story about the race than the state polls do; it can no longer be said that they have Mr. Obama behind. (More about that in a moment.)

Meanwhile, Mr. Obama continues to hold the lead in the vast majority of polls in Iowa, Nevada, Ohio and Wisconsin, the states that represent his path of least resistance toward winning the Electoral College. This was particularly apparent on Wednesday, a day when there were a remarkable number of polls, 27, released in the battleground states.

The fact is this race is really about Obama or not Obama. It has never been about Obama or Romney. This is why Romney has had the freedom to let anything come out of his mouth, change his views, even outright lie. There are no consequences for him because he is not even in the race. Only Obama is in the race. As a consequence, the only thing that matters is his performance, his words, his ups and downs. If Obama loses it is because Obama lost.