Obama, Romney Alter Campaigns in Face of East Coast Storm

Facing a massive East Coast storm, U.S. President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney adjusted their campaigns for the White House Saturday to avoid torrential rains and strong winds threatening the eastern half of the country.

 Obama's staff said the president reviewed storm relief preparations in a conference call with top emergency and domestic security officials as he flew to New Hampshire.  Staffers said Vice President Joe Biden canceled a campaign stop in coastal Virginia to allow local authorities to focus on storm preparations.

 Romney also canceled stops in Virginia.  He campaigned Saturday across Florida, which was spared the wrath of Hurricane Sandy.  Romney criticized the president for what he called an agenda that lacks vision, and promised if elected to "build bridges" with congressional Democrats.

  

President Barack Obama waves to supporters as he arrives for a campaign event at Elm Street Middle School, Saturday, Oct. 27, 2012 in Nashua, N.H.

 

 ​​Nearly 2,000 kilometers to the north, the president told supporters in Manchester, New Hampshire that the state's four electoral votes could end up as the margin of victory in the tightly contested election.

  

Both candidates are pushing supporters to vote early, and experts counting absentee ballots say some 10.5 million people have already voted.

  

Romney on Friday called for "bold changes" to fix the nation's economy.  He told supporters in the battleground state of Iowa that there is nothing in what the president proposed in recent debates that has any prospect of meeting the economic challenges facing the country.

  

The U.S. government, however, reported Friday that the economy grew by 2 percent in the July-to-September period, a slightly faster pace than economists had projected.

  

The head of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, Alan Krueger, said Friday's report provided "further evidence that the economy is moving in the right direction," adding that there is "more work to do."

  

Polls have shown the presidential race tied as the campaign enters its final stage before the November 6 election.