Superstorm Sandy’s mayhem is upending the final week of the presidential race, with US president Barack Obama calling off another of the waning days left to campaign and Republican Mitt Romney struggling to strike the right tone as he tries to close the deal with voters.

Democrats kicked off their 2012 convention with first lady Michelle Obama firing the first shots of a three-day salvo aimed at breaking the electoral deadlock with Republicans.

MITT ROMNEY has seized the lead in Iowa days before the unpredictable heartland state’s caucus kicks off voting to decide the Republican presidential nominee, a new poll showed.