WASHINGTON—Just when you think the United States might be coming apart at every nail, reality worth writing about touches down on the storm-ravaged Jersey shore.

Barack Obama and Chris Christie walking the wreckage like long-lost brothers — the oddest couple of American politics, tossing partisanship to the wind and water that ruined the Atlantic Coast.

Two months ago it was blunt, beefy New Jersey Gov. Christie leading the cheer as keynote speaker at the Republican National Convention, calling on the country to “end this era of absentee leadership in the Oval Office.”

One superstorm later, it was bromance, backslaps, praise all around.

“I cannot thank the president enough for his personal concern and his compassion,” Christie gushed Wednesday with Obama at his side.

The president answered in kind: “Gov. Christie, throughout this process, has been responsive. He has been aggressive in making sure that the state got out in front of this incredible storm.”

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Obama added military assets — C-17 and C-130 transport planes — to the growing list of federal help in accelerating the restoration of power and clean water. And a “15-minute rule,” he said, is now the requisite response time for what White House staffers call “find a way to say yes” to the needs of the four most stricken states.

For many American political watchers, the all-business buddy show was a head-scratcher with almost too many answers to count: They are just doing their jobs; this is what Americans do in crisis; the charismatic Christie secretly wants Obama to win so he can claim the GOP mantle in 2016.

CNN’s Candy Crowley, who moderated the second of three presidential debates, was leaning toward giving both men the benefit of the doubt.

“When something awful happens, we do tend to transcend politics to a certain degree. People died; more may be dying,” said Crowley. “If they are acting because people are dying and suffering, thumbs up.”

Whether it adds up to an “October surprise” remains doubtful. Thus far, 78 per cent of Americans approve of Obama’s handling of the crisis, compared to 44 per cent who credit Republican candidate Mitt Romney for his response, including Tuesday’s food drive in Ohio, according to a poll conducted for the Washington Post.

But coupled with other new surveys released Wednesday suggesting rising support for Obama in several key swing states, including Ohio and Wisconsin, the home stretch to next Tuesday’s election suggests Romney may be running out of paths to the White House.

“Any day that Obama is able to stand as the president rather than the candidate is beneficial for him. And it helps that the governor of New Jersey is praising him for it,” said Ryerson University political scientist Ron Vogel.

“What Romney managed to do in the first presidential debate was to knock Obama off that pedestal and present him as just another candidate. This week, Obama is able to remind us he is the commander-in-chief.

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“It may not have much effect. But time is running out and it looks like Obama’s firewall in Ohio is holding. Unless everything in doubt goes in Romney’s direction, it looks like Obama will squeak through.”

The New Jersey visit marked the end of Obama’s four-day hiatus from campaigning, with the president flying west for rallies in the battleground states of Wisconsin, Colorado and Nevada on Thursday.

Those travels will be followed by more still, with Team Obama announcing a final whirlwind weekend with stops in Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa, Virginia, New Hampshire, Florida and Colorado.

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