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Tag: difficult decisions

If Christie Does Get In, Organizational Hurdles Abound

If New Jersey Governor Chris Christie does decide to jump in his party’s 2012 presidential race, he’ll immediately have to get to work catching up with his opponents — Mitt Romney in particular — logistically:

With the initial primary and caucus states poised to move up their contests to January, an October announcement means that Christie would immediately confront two questions of some urgency: where would he compete and how would he get on the ballot in an array of states coming in rapid succession.

Those decisions have to be made and action needs to be taken while also handling myriad other demands — all of it on the fly.

Christie has a tight-knit group of advisers, but it isn’t quite like the turnkey operation Rick Perry had in place. Because while Perry was mulling, at least for public consumption, whether to run all summer, his top aides were building an operation in the early states.

So, in the midst of launching a campaign, Christie would have to simultaneously create both a national infrastructure and state-by-state organization. The good news is that there are still Republicans left to staff such an effort — one well-connected Iowa strategist was emailing Christie associates as recently as this week offering to help.

The governor has aides with presidential experience — both his communications director Maria Comella and top political adviser Mike DuHaime were on Rudy Giuliani’s campaign — and there are consultants in the wings who are available to step in and handle media, polling and mail. DuHaime “knows everyone in his business,” said one GOP strategist, noting his time at the Republican National Committee under Ken Mehlman prior to the 2008 race.

The challenge for Christie, though, isn’t necessarily putting together a strategy team. It’s throwing together, in mid-stride, an organization that could handle all the mundane but crucial tasks of a presidential campaign.

Obama, Iraqis Face Difficult Decisions As Troop Withdrawal Deadline Nears

The deadline for troop withdrawal in Iraq is approaching at the end of the year, but calls from military leaders and people within Iraq have minimized the chances that all U.S. soldiers will actually leave.

According to a 2008 security agreement between the United States and Iraq, all of the current 45,000 U.S. troops should be out of the country by Dec. 31, 2011. But even though no U.S. troops were killed in Iraq in August, the country remains plagued by internal violence. Last month, at least 70 Iraqis were killed in a single day, as suicide bombings, roadside explosions, and shootings swept across the country. Many have said that such strife is evidence of the work to still be done in Iraq before the America ends its presence there.

The prospect of a full withdrawal is particularly daunting for Kurds in the north, who fear that the ethnic cleansing and sectarian violence of the past will be intensified if American forces leave. Recent tensions with Turkey and subsequent attacks have made Kurds even less confident in their political future and skeptical that peace will come quickly. Massoud Barzani, the leader of the Kurdish autonomous region in Iraq, made a televised appeal Tuesday, urging U.S. troops to stay past the Dec. 31 deadline because the Iraqi military is still not powerful or cohesive enough. “If the American forces withdraw, there will be a possibility of civil war,” he said.

The Iraqi government must formally request for the United States to stay beyond the deadline, according to the 2008 agreement. Despite the Kurdish worries, an extension of U.S. troop presence is unpopular among most Iraqis, so leaders have so far been reluctant to make a firm decision.

The question is also eliciting strong reactions here at home, where millions of Americans believe the war was unnecessary and unjust. While Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has said that discussions are ongoing, rumors about decreasing troop levels have already elicited strong reactions. Fox News cited anonymous sources in saying that Obama will reduce the presence to 3,000 troops at the end of the year. According to the report, generals on the ground believe such a low number will pose significant challenges to maintaining peace in Iraq.

The extent of Iraq troop withdrawals this year is critical to Obama’s reelection hopes. Back in 2008, he set himself apart from the other Democratic presidential hopefuls by highlighting his opposition to the Iraq War and his commitment, if elected, to complete troop withdrawal. The president officially ended combat operations in Iraq last year, and he reasserted his commitment to bringing all troops home by the end of 2011.

Now Obama must decide whether to maintain a military presence in Iraq and jeopardize his already-waning support from anti-war progressives. If the 3,000 troops number is true, it reflects how torn the administration is about keeping American forces there: The number is basically as close to zero as Obama could get without fully pulling out and risking the potential chaos of which generals and Kurds have warned. The Iraq troop withdrawal debate might end up as another one of the president’s efforts to please both sides with a compromise that, in the end, leaves everyone dissatisfied.