He nodded towards the pain inflicted by storm Sandy and then moved on to the stump speech that anyone who has attended more than one rally knows so well - the five-point plan, the anecdote about the US flag rescued from the space shuttle Challenger disaster, the dully-delivered homilies about the need for change.

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At that point we were thankful all our loose ends were tethered as we got a close look at the shuttle's wings, inside the side hatch and even inside the engines.

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