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Christie and Obama to tour damaged areas together

New Jersey's Governor Chris Christie and President Barack Obama plan to tour the damage in Christie's state on Wednesday. Christie, a Republican, was quick to commend Obama and FEMA for their response following Hurricane Sandy's landfall in New Jersey on Monday.

No one's calling it a "campaign" event. But it will surely dominate the presidential campaign on Wednesday when Democratic President听Barack Obama听补苍诲听New Jersey's Republican Governor Chris Christie听inspect storm damage in the hard hit coastal state - together.

Had听Obama been traveling with any old Republican governor, few would have taken notice.

But听Christie is not any old governor. He's young, at 50, and a possible Republican presidential contender as soon as 2016, should Mitt Romney happen to lose.

And he's not just any critic of Obama. As keynote speaker at the Republican National Convention in August, he was the party's critic-in-chief.

Christie has continued to play that role as one of the highest-profile surrogates for the Republican presidential nominee, Romney.

Indeed, it would be hard to find a more unlikely duo six days before a presidential election - and Christie听knows it.

"If you think right now I give a damn about presidential politics then you don't know me," Christie听said Tuesday.

He was responding not to the announcement of the joint tour, which had yet to become public, but to questions about all the praise he has been heaping on听Obama during and after Sandy hit听New Jersey.

The unlikely partnership began just hours after the worst of the storm knocked out power for 2.4 million people in New Jersey, south and west of New York City. Christie听was quick to applaud Obama听and the听Federal Emergency Management Agency听in interviews on major television networks on Tuesday morning.

"The听federal government听response has been great. I was on the phone at midnight again last night with the president personally," he told NBC's "Today" program.

"The president has been outstanding in this. The folks at FEMA ... have been excellent," said Christie, once thought to be a contender for the听White House听this time around or possibly Romney's vice presidential pick.

"I don't give a damn about Election Day. It doesn't matter a lick to me at the moment," Christie听later told reporters in a press conference about the storm damage. "I've got bigger fish to fry."

Sandy made landfall in听New Jersey听on Monday night, leaving behind a trail of flooded homes, toppled trees and downed power lines in the nation's most densely populated region. At least 30 people were reported killed along the eastern seaboard.

Obama's handling of the storm's aftermath and Romney's response to it have the potential to become political issues, and both campaigns are taking care to avoid missteps.

The president again canceled his formal campaign activities for Wednesday to deal with storm recovery efforts. Romney on Tuesday transformed what was intended originally to be a campaign stop into a storm relief event in听Ohio.

Liberal group Americans United for Change was quick to circulate Christie's听comments.

Earlier on "CBS This Morning," Christie听said he spoke with Obama听three times on Monday as the storm hit. Obama听declared New Jersey a major disaster area so the state can quickly receive federal aid.

"I can't thank the president enough for that," Christie听told CBS.

And what about Romney?

Asked on FOX News on Tuesday whether he would tour stricken parts of his state with the Republican nominee, Christie听said:

"I have no idea, nor am I the least bit concerned or interested. I've got a job to do here in听New Jersey听that's much bigger than presidential politics, and I could care less about any of that stuff," he said.

(Reporting By Susan Heavey; Editing by Fred Barbash and Claudia Parsons)