Mitt Romney avoided direct attacks on President Obama on Wednesday at his first political event since Hurricane Sandy's landfall.
Meanwhile, Obama spent the morning in Washington coordinating the federal response to the catastrophic storm, but will return to the campaign trail full-time on Thursday.
Romney's rally in Tampa, Fla., was his first campaign stop since Monday, and precedes Obama's visit to New Jersey, where the president will tour the parts of the storm-ravaged state with Republican Gov. Chris Christie.
The GOP nominee showed deference to the victims of the storm and offered a cautious approach in his return to the presidential campaign trail. Projection screens to the side of the stage urged donations to the Red Cross, and Romney asked supporters to keep the victims in their thoughts and prayers.
"We love all of our fellow citizens, we come together in times like this and we want to make sure they have a speedy recovery," Romney said.
He did advocate for his candidacy, saying "people coming together is also what I believe will happen on Nov. 7" — the day after the election and a reflection of his confidence in his victory.
But his stump speech had been scrubbed of his customary attacks on Obama, with the Republican nominee putting his emphasis on times he reached across the aisle as governor of Massachusetts.
"It was not lost on me I would get nothing done unless I was able to have a relationship of respect and trust with people across the aisle," Romney said.
The closest Romney came to a direct critique of Obama was declaring that he doesn't "just talk about change — I actually have a plan to execute change and make it happen." His reluctance to attack the president head-on was almost certainly part of an attempt to strike the right tone as much of the Northeast continues to struggle from the aftermath of the deadly storm.
For more on Romney's Florida speech, click here.
