The hurricane has muddled our ability to see momentum.
It is easy to get a spike as President in the first three post-hurricane days, before the reports of all the problems and government failures seep into the news reports.
Because of polling lag, most of the most recent polls are still from that three day period or shortly thereafter. No polls truly reflect the last two days, they just can’t report that quickly.
So the momentum of the last few days is hidden from the public, but likely reflects a fast fading away of the bump Obama got in the immediate post-hurricane period.
Still don’t get how someone in Iowa disaffected for the last 3-4 years, and won over by Romney in the debates suddenly decides in the past week that Obama is just swell and would sign up for 4 more years of this. Can a photo in a helicopter over NJ change that? I don’t understand. I guess it is the media edge...that they can use the visual to sell a different version of reality.