POTUS: under Starter's orders..

Breaking news here comes from New Jersey and speculation over Governor Chris Christie's role in using strong-arm bullying tactics to punish a local mayor for not supporting him politically. As the current Republican front-runner for the 2014 Presidential race, Christie's aspirations could be dashed should his involvement be proven. At present, he convincingly denies any knowledge of the punitive action taken by his close aides.

 

They conspired to create a whopping big traffic jam that would tie up city streets for hours and as a result make the non-supporting mayor look incompetent. This they did by closing a bridge that not only snarled city traffic, but blocked a well-used highway between New Jersey and New York. The real victims were drivers who sat in their vehicles for hours while the Governor's aids played silly buggers with the errant mayor.

 

Much to his credit, Christie lost no time in reacting. He conducted a lengthy news conference and fielded direct and repetitive questions about his involvement. He apologized to the mayor and just about everybody else for the caper and fired two of his lieutenants on the spot. The implications of all this are far reaching.

 

First, the incident triggered the beginning of the 2014 presidential campaign. Every news media in the US is speculating over the damage caused to Christie's chances. This involved citing a number of polls about the strength of his leading position among other Republicans and revealed names  of those other Republicans who are expected to run. It also highlights polls showing the relative popularity of Christie and Hillary Clinton as the Republican and Democratic frontrunners respectively.

 

Not one of the named candidates has yet to announce their intention to run for President. But everybody knows who they are and who is in front and if a vote where to be held today, Governor Christie would win by a nose. Now that the campaign has begun, Obama's lame duck status is official and we shall be hearing less and less of him. One downside is the nausea, boredom and speculation associated with a long campaign has begun.

 

Second, the incident serves as an object lesson in leadership. Implicated or not, Christie took immediate charge of the situation by apologizing, firing key players and accepting blame as New Jersey's chief executive. In so doing, Christie projected an image of leadership that is sorely lacking in American politics in general and in the Obama administration in particular.

 

Indeed, Obama's minions are still arguing over responsibility for failing to recognize the al-Qaida links in the attack on the American Consulate office in Benghazi, permitting the National Security Administration to clandestinely spy on Americans not to mention world leaders, the disastrous rollout of the Affordable Care Act (Obama Care), and a myriad of broken presidential promises to the American People.

 

One commentator incisively praised the direct and frank manner in which Christie dealt with his issues in contrast to the 'lawyered-up' statements issued by the President and his functionaries in response to their issues.

 

Thirdly, the incident offers a behind-the-scenes look at glaring weaknesses in the Christie team. One pundit characterized the traffic jam caper as a Mickey Mouse stunt. And it was just that. If Christie intends on playing the presidential game, he would be well advised to ratchet up his approach, his image and most of all his team. The rank amateurishness of the incident relegates Christie to an unacceptably low level of electioneering that places him uncomfortably close to Mafia boss style leadership than that of managing the world's largest democracy. There is no doubt that Christie will do what is necessary to upgrade.

 

 Meanwhile, hang on to your hats because the race has begun.