[ 2011-04-04 ]

Barack Obama announces 2012 re-election bid
US President Barack Obama has announced his
intention to stand for a second term in office in
2012.

Mr Obama's team released a video on his official
website and sent an e-mail to supporters
announcing his plans.

The president has an online network of millions of
Americans and his web campaign was widely seen as
a key plank of his election success in 2008.

The announcement was widely expected, and his
campaign team are set to file election papers this
week.

In an e-mail to supporters Mr Obama said the
campaign would start small and grow over time,
"with people organising block-by-block, talking to
neighbours, co-workers, and friends".

"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."

Unveiling a new look for Mr Obama's campaign
website, his team told supporters: "The idea is to
improve upon what's worked for the past four
years, scrap what hasn't, and build a campaign
that reflects the thoughts and experiences of the
supporters who've powered this movement."

After the 'shellacking'
A number of Republican presidential hopefuls are
expected to seek the nomination to run against Mr
Obama.

However as it stands, Tim Pawlenty, the former
governor of Minnesota, is the only leading
candidate to have formally declared his
candidacy.

Mr Obama took office in January 2009 with
near-record approval ratings, but has seen his
support fall during his first two years in
office.

In November 2010 Mr Obama's Democratic Party lost
control of the House of Representatives and shed
several Senate seats in mid-term elections to
Congress.

The president called the result a "shellacking"
and vowed to listen to the concerns of US voters.

Despite shedding some support, polling by the Pew
Research Center suggests Mr Obama is in a stronger
position at this stage than either former
presidents Bill Clinton or George W Bush, both of
whom went on to win re-election convincingly.

In polling carried out in March, some 47% of
registered voters said they would like to re-elect
Mr Obama, with just 37% saying they would vote for
an as-yet-unknown Republican candidate.

Source - BBC

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