With Obama’s Announcement, the Dynamic Shifts
President Barack Obama filed the necessary paperwork with the Federal Election Commission today to begin his re-election campaign. Although expected, the move shifts the conversation and makes “Obama’s re-election efforts” the prism through which much of the administration’s upcoming moves will be viewed by the media.
The Washington Post‘s Dan Balz writes, “President Obama’s decision to launch his 2012 reelection campaign Monday is about much more than money. It is an acknowledgment by the president’s team that the grass-roots army that helped propel Obama to the White House needs repair and rejuvenation.”
Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, meanwhile, didn’t want to miss a chance to jump into this new dynamic, announcing today that the organization has sent letters to Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R) and former Govs. Mike Huckabee (R-Ark.) and Tim Pawlenty (R-Minn.) regarding their support for efforts to, as SLDN put it in the Barbour letter, “repeal the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.'”
SLDN executive director Aubrey Sarvis wrote to Barbour:
You said that you wanted “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” reenacted because an “amorous mindset” would interfere with critical decision making on the battlefield. I assume you also believe that the armed services should exclude heterosexual females because they might provoke an “amorous mindset” in their heterosexual male comrades. More important, such a comment is an insult to the men and women who volunteer and sacrifice to join our armed forces. As a U.S. Army veteran, I can tell you that American service members are professionals who do their jobs and who do not allow an “amorous mindset” to interfere with defending their country.
Download the letters:
- Letter to Governor Haley Barbour (R-MS)
- Letter to former Governor Mike Huckabee (R-AR)
- Letter to former Governor Tim Pawlenty (R-MN)
Meanwhile, the Wonk Room’s Igor Volsky continues his in-their-face questioning of GOP presidential hopefuls, this time in New Hampshire, asking former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) about his support for the American Family Association.
Watch the Obama’s re-election campaign’s opening video ad:
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