New York, Apr 3 : President Barack Obama may announce plans to run for re-election as early as Monday so that he begins the process for accepting campaign contributions, a media report said today.
“The president and I have discussed the challenges - and there are challenges,” said Jim Messina, a former White House deputy chief of staff for Obama who is running the president's 2012 re-election campaign.
Running any presidential campaign “is a grueling task”, The New York Times said, adding Obama plans to announces his intentions “as early as Monday in a message to supporters”.
“But I want people in the Chicago headquarters who live and sleep and eat and breathe re-electing Barack Obama as president,” Messina was quoted as saying by The Times.
Since leaving the White House two months ago, Messina has been on a listening tour, visiting donors and activists in nearly two dozen cities. The private sessions were intended to improve frayed relations, particularly with some liberal groups, while reconnecting with supporters, the report said.
In a recent national opinion poll, Obama has been rated by Americans higher for his handling of foreign affairs than those of domestic and financial issues.
Forty-six per cent approve of the President's handling of foreign affairs and 44 per cent his handling of Libya, while his highest rating on three domestic issues is 40 per cent for health-care policy, the Gallup said in its latest opinion poll on Obama released on Friday.
Obama's approval ratings on all five issues—foreign affairs, Libya, health care, economy and federal budget deficit—are below 50 per cent, as is his overall job approval rating, which is 47 per cent.
The survey was conducted from March 25 to 27. Since he was elected during the 2008 economic downturn, Obama's handling of the economy could arguably be the most critical issue for how Americans evaluate his presidency leading up to his 2012 re-election bid and how historians judge his legacy in the future, the Gallup said. PTI
