Biden: Safety, Not Campaign, Tops as Storm Approaches - East Idaho News
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Biden: Safety, Not Campaign, Tops as Storm Approaches

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GETTY P 102610 VicePresidentJoeBiden?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1351500483814Joe Raedle/Getty Images(MANCHESTER, N.H.) — Vice President Joe Biden modified his campaign schedule mid-trip Sunday as many battleground states along the East Coast brace for the impact of Hurricane Sandy.

With less than two hours in Manchester, N.H., Biden stopped by a campaign field office to greet volunteers and expressed concern for New Hampshire as the storm heads towards the Granite State.

“We were supposed to be here today and tomorrow, were heading out to Keene, and had a lot of good stuff planned, but it turns out the storm, the storm is supposed to hit here,” Biden said while standing on a chair in the office.  “Just an hour ago I got off the phone with the governor and apparently you are all in for some of this starting early tomorrow or at least noon tomorrow, I think that’s what the governor told me, noon to 2.”

“And the last thing the president and I want to do is have the campaign get in the way of anything — the most important thing is people’s safety and people’s health and property being saved here,” the vice president said.  “So we were going to just continue to detour and fly straight to Ohio, which is my next stop but I wanted to stop.”

As he shook hands with voters outside the campaign field office, reporters asked Biden about the storm affecting voters.

“Well, I hope it is not going to affect voters on Election Day,” Biden said.

The vice president flew into Manchester, N.H., from Wilmington, Del., Sunday afternoon as he was scheduled to hold an event in Keene, N.H.  But the campaign cancelled the rally out of an “abundance of caution to ensure that all local law enforcement and emergency management resources can stay focused on ensuring the safety of people who might be impacted by the storm.”

The vice president later flew out of New Hampshire and headed to Ohio where he is scheduled to campaign on Tuesday.  The campaign said details about Biden’s activities in Ohio Monday are forthcoming.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

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