Debt Forecast Downgrades Obama Re-Election Chances

-- President Obama in an interview with WRAL of Raleigh, N.C.

President Obama is having trouble getting his 2012 campaign off the runway.

On Monday, the president was set to take the fight to red states he wants Republicans to worry about in 2012 with interviews with television stations from Colorado, North Carolina, Indiana and Texas.

This is the fourth round of local affiliate interviews the White House has granted since December. The 20 interview recipients have followed a similar pattern

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Canvass shows Wis. incumbent Justice Prosser has won re-election

A canvass of Wisconsin county vote results shows that conservative state Supreme Court Justice David Prosser has won re-election over his liberal challenger. The results aren't yet official, and a recount is expected.

Prosser defeated state Assistant Attorney General JoAnne Kloppenburg by 7,316 votes out of nearly 1.5 million votes cast, the Wisconsin State Journal reports. She has until Wednesday to ask for a recount.

State election officials won't begin an official review of today's results until after an expected request by Kloppenburg.

Last week, County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus announced that she had failed to report a city's 14,000 votes in initial totals. The revised tally gave Prosser a lead of about 7,500 votes over Kloppenburg, who until then held a slim lead.

State election officials have announced that they will investigate vote irregularities in predominantly Republican Waukesha County stretching back at least five years.

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Big Money Trumps Base Support for Obama’s Re-Election Campaign

FoxNews.com

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The timing of the start of President Obama’s re-election bid had as much to do with money as anything else.

By starting at the beginning of April, Obama will be able to post an impressive fundraising number for the second quarter of the year. It’s a strategy that has worked for him before.

In 2007, Obama cast doubt on the certainty of Hillary Clinton’s nomination by out raising her between April 1 and June 30. She brought in $27 million compared to his $32.5 million and her campaign never really recovered the cloak of inevitability.

This time, it’s Obama who wants to prevent any doubts from being cast on his chances.

With deep corporate connections and the power of incumbency, Obama could handily double his haul from the same period in 2007. Even if leading Republican contenders Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty and Haley Barbour post huge numbers by the end of June, they will still pale in comparison to what Obama will be raking in.

Money is the only logical reason for Team Obama to start the campaign this week because otherwise, the timing was dreadful. Announcing that the drive for 2012 has begun right in the middle of an acrimonious debate over a government shutdown and as questions mount about the war in Libya was tough. Presidents generally like to declare for a second term while they are on the upswing, not when they are skidding to new lows in job-approval polls.

This may have been why Obama went for a

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Obama Announces Re-election Bid in Web Video

AP

April 1: Obama smiles during an event to promote clean energy vehicles at a UPS facility in Landover, Md.

WASHINGTON -- President Obama formally launched his re-election campaign Monday, urging grass-roots supporters central to his first White House run to mobilize again to protect the change he's brought over the past two years.

The official start of his second White House bid comes 20 months before the November 2012 election.

"We've always known that lasting change wouldn't come quickly or easily. It never does," the Democrat said in an e-mail to supporters announcing his candidacy. "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."

He told them he was filing the necessary paperwork with the Federal Election Commission, and directed them to his new campaign website where a launch video featured clips from supporters talking about their continued backing of the Democrat.

"I don't agree with Obama on everything but I respect him and I trust him," Ed from North Carolina says, delivering what's certain to become a key part of the president's pitch as he tries to re-energize liberals who have criticized some of his policies and independents who have fled from him in his first term.

Obama's announcement comes just weeks after the commander in chief directed U.S. military operations to a third major warfront, Libya, and days after the post-recession economy showed more signs of a rebound with a report that the still high unemployment rate had fallen to 8.8 percent.

Widely expected, the procedural step of launching a campaign was planned to coincide with the second fundraising quarter of the year. Filing paperwork will allow the president to begin raising money in earnest for what advisers hope will be a record-breaking haul of more than $1 billion for his campaign, which is based in Chicago. That begins this month; he's slated to visit major money venues of Chicago, New York and Los Angeles in the coming weeks.

Obama faces no primary challenger.

On the other side, the race for the GOP presidential nomination is just getting under way; more than a dozen Republicans are considering seeking the chance to challenge Obama in the next election. Only a few have taken the initial steps toward a candidacy, though several more are expected to this month. It's a wide open race with no clear front-runner.

Nevertheless, Obama said he's not taking anything for granted.

"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," he said in the e-mail.

"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," Obama added. He directed them to the new red, white and blue website for what he said was "a campaign that's farther-reaching, more focused, and more innovative than anything we've built before."

The website features Obama's new campaign logo -- 2012 with the rising sun in the background, a version of his 2008 campaign logo -- and announces that the campaign is kicking off.

"We're opening up offices, unpacking boxes, and starting a conversation with supporters like you to help shape our path to victory, and this is where you say you're in," it says, urging people to organize and donate.

The video is a montage of testimonials from a demographically diverse group of backers who intend to stay involved in this campaign.

"It needs to reflect the changes that we've seen in the last two-and-a-half years," says Katherine from Colorado. "Then we had an underdog senator. Nobody thought that he had a chance. And now he's the president."

Gladys from Nevada adds: "We're not leaving it up to chance" and "It's an election that we have to win."

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Obama announces re-election bid in web video

By Evan Vucci, AP

The president's campaign announced Monday in a web video posted on his campaign website and in an e-mail to supporters that he will run again in 2012.

EnlargeCloseBy Evan Vucci, AP

The president's campaign announced Monday in a web video posted on his campaign website and in an e-mail to supporters that he will run again in 2012.

The president's campaign announced Monday in a web video posted on his campaign website and in an e-mail to supporters that he will run again in 2012.

The announcement had been widely expected and White House officials said over the weekend that his campaign would file papers this week with the Federal Election Commission to launch his 2012 re-election effort.

He has already started fundraising.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters

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GOP takes aim at Obama's re-election bid

Ex-Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty, the only GOP candidate so far to file the papers for a presidential exploratory committee, pokes fun with a video of his own by using a catch phrase that Obama has been using lately.

"How can America 'Win the Future' when we're losing the present," Pawlenty asks. "In order for America to take a new direction, it's going to take a new president."

USA TODAY's David Jackson has more on President Obama's re-election campaign in The Oval.

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Obama re-election bid may start Monday

Multiple sources tell CNN that President Obama could announce his re-election campaign as early as Monday. STORY HIGHLIGHTSPresident Obama plans to send supporters an electronic message with the newsThe announcement could come as early as MondaySources say Obama's team also hopes to file with the FEC MondayRELATED TOPICSBarack ObamaElection CampaignsGovernment and PoliticsFederal Election Commission Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama plans to send supporters a text or email message announcing his intention to run for re-election, multiple Democratic sources tell CNN.

The message, which might include a video that would be posted online as well, could come as early as Monday morning. The sources say Obama's team also hopes to file papers with the Federal Election Commission on Monday to launch his 2012 re-election campaign.

The timing of the announcement and the filing could change depending on outside events. The White House is closely watching negotiations on Capitol Hill over the 2011 spending bill, which must be resolved this week to avoid a government shutdown.

This would come more than a week before the president hosts his first re-election fundraiser in Chicago on April 14. These Democrats say no public event is planned because the White House wants to downplay the announcement and minimize the political distraction.

The president is making his campaign official slightly earlier than is typical for an incumbent so he can get a jump on fundraising in a season that's likely to shatter all records. Obama's team has been asking campaign bundlers to raise $350,000 each, no easy task since campaign finance laws limit gifts to $2,500 per donor. Two sources tell CNN the campaign team hopes that in total their bundlers will raise $500 million, leaving the campaign to raise another $500 million and amass a record-breaking $1 billion war chest.

According to these sources, the president has made calls to top donors and conference calls are planned this week to supporters and key Democratic groups. Vice President Joe Biden is already planning to be in New Hampshire Monday and will meet with key supporters in that crucial early voting state. For the past few weeks, Jim Messina, who will manage the campaign, and Patrick Gaspard, executive director of the DNC, have been flying around the country meeting with frustrated donors working to get them re-engaged.

So far no Republican contenders have formally announced. But these days the likely Republican presidential contenders are making endless visits to key early voting states and meeting with supporters across the country.

One top Democrat says, "The Republicans are out there day in and day out beating up on the president -- they're basically running without filing. So to say we're going first isn't totally fair." This person adds, "No one wants to start running now. The president is engaged in the country, this is about getting (campaign) staff up and running."

Additionally, top Democrats say two former White House staffers are likely to set up a third-party outside spending group. Former Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton and Sean Sweeney, former aide to then-Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, have been approached by Democratic donors who are concerned about countering the influence of Karl Rove and the Koch brothers in the upcoming 2012 election.

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Obama Set to Launch Re-Election Bid, Sources Say

Associated Press

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President Obama is about to make one of Washington's worst kept secrets official: He wants a second term.

Democratic officials familiar with the president's plans said Saturday that Obama intends to file papers as early as this coming week with the Federal Election Commission to launch his 2012 re-election campaign. He also will announce his candidacy to supporters by email and text messages.

The officials asked not to be identified in order to speak before the papers are filed.

That widely anticipated but formal step of registering with the FEC will free Obama to start raising money for the re-election effort, which, like his 2008 campaign, will be run from Chicago.

That fundraising already has begun. Obama netted $1.5 million at a Democratic fundraiser in New York's Harlem this past week. He's also scheduled to travel in the week ahead to headline events in Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Obama raised an eye-catching $750 million in 2008.

The president isn't expected to face a primary challenge.

Though a cast of Republican governors, former governors and others are laying the groundwork for a presidential bid, none has entered the race.

As the Obama campaign operation ramps up behind the scenes in terms of money, message and manpower, Obama plans to stay focused on his day job. Aside from the obvious fundraising that will be required of him, Obama intends to stay out of the fray until Republicans settle on a candidate next spring.

Obama's hopes for a second term received a boost Friday after the government said the March unemployment rate had dipped to its lowest level in two years, to 8.8 percent, and that the economy added 216,000 jobs last month.

Polls consistently show the economy is voters' top concern and Republicans plan to make an issue of Obama's handling of the recovery.

Obama said Friday's numbers mean the "economy is showing signs of real strength" as it continues to recover from the recession that wiped out 7.5 million jobs.

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