Romney strategist: Hurricane Sandy halted campaign momentum

Former Romney political adviser Stuart Stevens said Wednesday that he believes Hurricane Sandy threw the Republican presidential candidate's campaign off-kilter in the election's final days.

"After the storm, I never had a good feeling. Not that the storm impacted things so much, per se, but these races — a race like this is a lot like an NBA game. It's all about ball control at the end," Stevens told Charlie Rose in an interview.

Romney suspended normal campaign events for 48 hours the week before Election Day because of the storm, instead holding "relief efforts" where he and running mate Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) helped to box emergency supplies.

"We went from having these big rallies around the country to literally sitting around in hotel rooms and there was just nothing we could do about it," Stevens said.

Stevens did say that he did not blame New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), who openly embraced Obama in the days following the storm and hailed the president's response. Simply, Stevens said, the conversation shifted to coverage of the storm.

Stevens has been aggressively defending his campaign's performance in recent weeks, penning an op-ed last week praising Romney and warning the GOP of "a shortage of loyalty and an abundance of self-loathing."

"He raised more money for the Republican Party than the Republican Party did," Stevens wrote. "He trounced Barack Obama in debate. He defended the free-enterprise system and, more than any figure in recent history, drew attention to the moral case for free enterprise and conservative economics."

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