By email, with a video, Barack Obama told supporters (and the nation) that he's running for reelection. The email begins:
Today, we are filing papers to launch our 2012 campaign.Here's the video:
We're doing this now because the politics we believe in does not start with expensive TV ads or extravaganzas, but with you -- with people organizing block-by-block, talking to neighbors, co-workers, and friends. And that kind of campaign takes time to build.
So even though I'm focused on the job you elected me to do, and the race may not reach full speed for a year or more, the work of laying the foundation for our campaign must start today.
We've always known that lasting change wouldn't come quickly or easily. It never does. But as my administration and folks across the country fight to protect the progress we've made -- and make more -- we also need to begin mobilizing for 2012, long before the time comes for me to begin campaigning in earnest.
From the New York Times:
President Obama confirmed Monday morning that he will seek another four years in the White House, beginning a re-election campaign that will ask Americans to endorse the status quo over the increasingly vocal calls from Republicans for a fresh start in Washington.
Facing turmoil in the Middle East, ongoing military action in Libya and the threat of a government shutdown within days, Mr. Obama conveyed his political intentions in an understated Internet video titled “It Begins With Us,” which features his supporters talking about the need to re-elect him.
