Disaster Relief: Obama Poses For Pictures

Romney sends help.

Ohio Disaster Relief Center at Romney Headquarters in Columbus

Due to the devastating storms ravaging the mid-west and east coast, many states were declared disaster areas including Ohio.  To assist with disaster relief the Romney campaign is using its Columbus headquarters and campaign bus to assist relief efforts:

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s campaign is helping storm relief efforts in Ohio. Spokesman Chris Maloney says the state campaign headquarters in Columbus is open Sunday for donations of water, flashlights, non-perishable foods and other items needed in the aftermath of severe storms Friday evening that knocked out power to much of the state amid a heat wave. He says a Romney bus in Ohio this week for campaign office openings will be diverted Monday and Tuesday to deliver supplies to shelters, fire stations and churches in hard-hit areas. Nearly 700,000 utility customers remained without power Sunday morning. Maloney said the Romney campaign office received some 5,000 bottles of water by late morning. He said the campaign will ask the American Red Cross and other relief officials for guidance on where to take the donations.  “This is about helping people in their time of need,” Maloney said, calling the effort apolitical.
Headquarters Location and Hours:
1335 Dublin Rd.
Suite 110 F
Columbus, OH 43215
Monday – Friday
9am-9pm
Saturday
9am-5pm

This type of charity is nothing new for Romney.  Famously, he closed all of Bain Capital and 30 partners and employees flew to New York to help find a partner’s missing daughter.

UPDATE: Official Romney campaign release:

The severe storms that ripped through Ohio have claimed 13 lives across our nation and left thousands without power in Ohio.  It could be several days before power is restored to the hundreds of thousands of Ohioans affected. The Romney for President bus is in Ohio this week and we’ve decided to put it to good use in the relief effort, but we need your help. If you’d like to make a donation to the relief effort, bring supplies to the Romney for President Headquarters located at 1335 Dublin Road in Columbus on Sunday between 10am and 7pm. We will load up the Romney for President bus on Sunday evening and send it to Southeast Ohio on Monday morning to deposit supplies at various relief centers. Here’s what we need:
*   Bottled Water
*   Non-perishable food items, such as beef jerky, granola bars, peanut butter, etc.
Bring your supply donations to our headquarters Sunday and we’ll ensure it gets to your fellow Ohioans who are in need on Monday. Thank you in advance for your generosity.

Meanwhile, here's how Obama helps out - by getting in the way.

President Obama is speaking in Colorado about wildfires that have destroyed homes in and around Colorado Springs. One person has died and more than 340 homes have been destroyed. The president spent the day touring the damage.

US President Barack Obama pauses with fire fighters while touring the Mountain Shadow neighborhood in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Photograph: AFP/Brendan Smialowski

Obama says the government can supply resources to fight the fires but not the courage of firefighters working to save lives and property. He calls on Americans to remember the work of their local fire departments before emergency strikes. He says steps are being taken to learn to better prevent disastrous wildfires in the West.


A federal disaster order is in effect for the region.