I Don't Know If Such A Remark Helps Her Or Hurts Her

The exact quote: "I don't know how much God has to do to get the attention of the politicians. We've had an earthquake; we've had a hurricane. He said, 'Are you going to start listening to me here?'"

I understand offhand remarks but this was a speech by a presidential candidate. So she's either (1) joking or (2) she believes that God intentionally causes natural disasters and that the earthquake and hurricane indicate God is unhappy with Washington. (And we do have a number of deaths due to Irene.)