President Obama Launches His Re-election Campaign

President Obama formally launched his 2012 re-election campaign bid releasing a two minute video entitled "It Begins with Us" and by filing the necessary paperwork with the Federal Electoral Commission. The video is above all an appeal to the vast grassroots network that the Obama campaign built in 2007-2008 to rejoin the effort.
The video brings together five supporters from the first campaign, each representing a key component of the Obama coalition that helped to propel Barack Obama to the presidency. First off there is Ed, a white, middle-aged man from North Carolina that Obama narrowly captured in 2008, says that although he doesn't agree with Obama "on everything, I respect him and I trust him." Then there is Gladys, a Hispanic mother from Nevada, another key battleground state, who admits to being "nervous" but adds this is an "election that we have to win". The third Obama supporter is Katherine from Colorado, another state that Obama won in 2008 and would need to hold in 2012, who argues that "politics at the grassroots level is individuals talking to other individuals and making a difference. "
Representing the critical under 30 demographic is Mike, a student from New York, a state not likely to be a battleground, who resurrects the H-word saying "I just saw the energy and hope he had for this country. Even though I couldn't vote at the time, I knew that someday I'd be able to help re-elect him. And that's what I plan on doing." The last Obama supporter is Alice, an African-American from Michigan, a rust-belt state that continues to be battered by the economy, who makes the argument that this time around it's incumbent upon Obama supporters to get the President re-elected given that President has a job to do.
The video does not include Obama’s voice nor does it tout any of the President's accomplishments. However if there are takeaways to be gleaned, it seems clear that the President is going to run more on character and judgment than on his record and that women will be a key demographic come November 2012. In 2008, 56 percent of the female vote went to Obama, exceeding the usual Democrat gender advantage. And by choosing supporters in states like Nevada, Colorado and North Carolina, the Obama campaign is signaling that it intends to replicate some of the surprising if narrow wins in the states that normally vote GOP.
In conjunction with the video, the Obama campaign sent out an email to supporters. That email is below the fold.

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