WASHINGTON - Republican Chris Christie is facing pressure to step up the pace in forming a likely presidential campaign and to slow the defection of financial donors to rivals like Jeb Bush in order to keep alive his 2016 White House dream.
The New Jersey governor's struggle to cope with problems at home and his slow start on the campaign trail have raised questions about his viability at a time when other potential Republican candidates are busy raising money and hiring staff.
Former New Jersey Governor Thomas Kean, an early Christie mentor, diagnosed Christie's problem on Friday after The Washington Post and The New York Times published stories detailing the defection of Christie donors to Bush, the former Florida governor, and others.
"I think you've got to make sure you have the right national staff, and I'm not sure he's done that yet," Kean said in a telephone interview. "If you haven't been around this track before it's treacherous. ... He's been slow putting that kind of team together."
Christie's challenge is to get past this rocky period and hang on until later this year when the candidate debates begin. The debates would allow Christie to use his natural speaking prowess to his advantage.
"He may well win those debates. He's just very, very able, regardless of the record, regardless of what you think of him, regardless of anything else," Kean said.
But whether Christie can hang on that long is an open question. During trips to Iowa, which holds the first nominating contest early next year, Christie has received credit for showing up. But many of the state's conservatives harbor doubts because he has governed from the middle in Democratic-leaning New Jersey.
Christie ranks in the middle of the pack in polls of Republican voters in Iowa and New Hampshire, which holds the second nominating contest and where Christie needs to do well to outlast other likely big-name contenders like Bush, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida and Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky.
"I think he's waking up to the reality that this isn't quite what he thought it would be," said a Republican strategist familiar with the workings of the Christie camp. "It isn't as easy as he thought it would be."
The Christie camp is making the case that the governor has substantial support in the donor community.
Officials at Christie's political action committee, pushing back against the idea his financial support was eroding, released a lengthy list of donors and event hosts who are sticking with him.
Ray Washburne, finance chair for Christie's Leadership Matters for America PAC, said Bush's early exploration of a presidential campaign gave him an advantage, but there is still plenty of time for Christie and others to organize.
"The fact that he's jumped ahead with donors hasn't concerned us too much. We're going to get the governor's events started in earnest in March," Washburne said.
Fred Malek, a major Republican fundraiser, said Bush has a substantial financial advantage but there is room for others.
"While Bush will vastly out raise all comers, leading candidates ... will have sufficient funds to be competitive," he said.
Christie has weathered a series of local troubles in the past year, chiefly over the "Bridgegate" scandal involving alleged political payback against a New Jersey mayor. In another complication, New Jersey has struggled to regain jobs lost during the recession.
But Christie remains determined to stay in the nascent 2016 campaign, say those familiar with his plans.
"I think it's difficult for him but I don't think it's going to slow him down," said another Republican strategist familiar with the Christie camp's thinking.