Obama storm response 'wonderful': Top Romney ally

WASHINGTON (AFP) - President Barack Obama won glowing praise for his "wonderful" handling of superstorm Sandy on Tuesday from a fierce foe who backs Mitt Romney, as political reverberations of the storm began to be felt.

Mr Obama put campaigning on hold a week before his close election clash with Republican nominee Mr Romney to manage the federal government's response to Sandy, which swamped large areas of the US East Coast.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a blunt spoken critic of the president and a key Romney ally, early on Tuesday produced a glowing character reference for Mr Obama, which is already shaping end-game election news coverage.

"The president's been great... I spoke to him three times yesterday, he called me for the last time at midnight last night, he asked me what I needed," Mr Christie told MSNBC.