White House: 'Possible' Obama Could Announce Troop Decision Before Runoff

President Obama could make a decision on whether to send thousands more U.S. troops to Afghanistan before the country's Nov. 7 runoff election.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Wednesday that it's "possible" the president could reach a decision before then, despite earlier suggestions from the White House that the administration wanted to wait until after the runoff to announce its new strategy.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, as well as Defense Secretary Robert Gates, have said the president should not let the runoff election hold up his decision on troop levels.

Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in the country, has called for 40,000 more troops -- a request Obama has been considering as he and his security team reassess strategy in the long-running war.

Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told Fox News Wednesday that he hopes the election is not a factor in the timing of Obama's consideration of McChrystal's request.

"(Obama) needs to be deliberative but he also needs to be decisive," Thune said.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Tuesday agreed to a runoff following a finding of widespread fraud in the August election.

Sen. John Kerry says Obama should wait until after the new Afghanistan presidential election is conducted before making his decision for the war.

Kerry met with Obama at the White House Wednesday, just hours after returning from Afghanistan, where he played a crucial role in persuading Karzai to accept a run-off vote after a fraud-plagued election.

The Massachusetts Democrat said it wouldn't make "common sense" for Obama to determine whether more U.S. troops should go to Afghanistan without knowing the election results. He said, "You really want to know that this has worked and you want to know what's coming out of it."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.