Obama, Romney Make Up for Sandy With Speed-Campaigning

(Image Credit: Matt Rourke/AP Photo)

With less than a week to Election Day, and after 72 hours mostly lost in deference to Hurricane Sandy, the presidential candidates today are spending almost as much time in the air as on the ground.

President Obama, who left Washington a little after 9 a.m. ET, is scheduled to arrive in Columbus, Ohio, 16 hours later. In between, he headlines three rallies and spends time in four different time zones.

First up was Wisconsin, where he spoke to supporters from the tarmac of a Green Bay airport. Then it was "wheels up" to Las Vegas for a brief visit before jetting back east to Denver, a stopover on his way to an event in Boulder, Colo.

The president has, to date, done well to keep his own whereabouts in order. His second-in-command, Vice President Joe Biden, has found that a trying exercise, as he has been the first to admit.

"I've been living in Ohio like I used to live in Iowa [during the 2008 primaries]," he told a friendly gathering in Davenport Wednesday night, hours after leading two rallies in Florida. "As a matter of fact, I got in trouble with the press, which never points out any mistake I make. I was in Ohio talking about it and saying it's good to be here in Ohio and then I said 'and in Iowa'. … It's Ohio and then it's Iowa every day, but anyway …"

Biden gets a bit of a break today, speaking at only two events, both of them in the Hawkeye State. But before he gets too comfortable, it's off to Wisconsin tonight, where he'll bunk up in Beloit.

Meantime, it's a long day in Virginia for Mitt Romney. He got started early, speaking to supporters in Roanoke. Next up is Doswell, almost 200 miles east, before the Republican caps off the day in Virginia Beach.

Romney heads to battleground Ohio Friday for an evening "Victory Rally," the first stop on his and Paul Ryan's "Real Recovery Road Rally," which, per a campaign news release, will see the participants (both candidates, their families, and "nearly 100 governors, senators, mayors, and more") fan out "to campaign in eleven states: Colorado, Ohio, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin."

Ryan will meet up with the top of the ticket after a relatively quiet Thursday. He's only down for two events, the first in Greeley, Colo., before heading a bit further west for an afternoon rally in Reno, Nev.

Meantime, Ann Romney will be hard at work on her husband's behalf, making three stops inside Ohio before the rest of the team starts to pour in ahead of Friday night's GOP campaign congress.

After an afternoon event in Columbus, she's off to the suburbs to push early voters to the polls. She'll make two more stops between Columbus and Akron before closing out the day, more than 125 miles northeast of where she began it, with an appearance in Strongsville.

And just to make sure Florida doesn't feel left out, Michelle Obama, along with a few celebrity guests, booked a full schedule there today. She's joined by Stevie Wonder in Jacksonville, before heading south down the coast to Daytona Beach, where singer Marc Anthony hops on the bandwagon.

And finally, with Anthony in tow, the first lady closes out the day with one more event, in Miami.