Obama 2012

Barack Obama's officially joined the cast of thousands of GOP hopefuls (none of whom has progressed beyond the formation of exploratory committees, of course) in the race for the presidency in 2012. I am buried in work today, but here are three articles that will give you a quick overview of this early phase of the race: Obama's campaign announcement video (and insights into likely strategy), Marc Ambinder's list of 5 disadvantages the incumbent faces (via the Atlantic online), and, at the National Journal, Matthew Dowd's list of the three factors that have to fall into place in order for Obama to lose. As Dowd notes, only one of those three is in the power of the Republican party: the nominee. And that's where Iowa comes in.

Meanwhile, Bob Cesca predicts the usual Kucinich-style primary challenge from the left, and Chez at Deus Ex Malcontent lets fly at the "narcissistic dipsh%#@ within Obama's own party who can't shut up about how he's "just like Bush" because he didn't dismantle the military, make gay marriage and drug use mandatory and build a Whole Foods on top of Ground Zero."