WASHINGTON (AP) – President Barack Obama has spent months trying to balance his re-election bid with running the government.

Now, just when his campaign needs him the most, with little more than a week before the election, his official job is beckoning.

Republican challenger Mitt Romney, too, faces questions about how to conduct his campaign as a superstorm charges toward the East Coast. But as president, it’s Obama who oversees the federal government’s preparations for the looming storm and it’s Obama who will bear the responsibility for any missteps.