Politics / President Obama Obama to Launch 2012 Campaign: Could Be First $1B Run President expected to file formal papers on Monday By John Johnson, Newser Staff Posted Apr 2, 2011 11:05 AM CDT Copied President Obama pauses while speaking during his visit to a UPS shipping facility in Landover, Md., Friday, April 1, 2011. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) President Obama will make it official next week, reports Lynn Sweet at the Chicago Sun-Times: He's running for re-election. The president is expected to file his papers with the Federal Election Commission as early as Monday to be a 2012 candidate, a move that will allow his camp to start collecting contributions. The more eye-popping part of the news is that insiders think the president will need to raise even more than the $750 million he got in 2008. Which means the nation's first billion-dollar campaign may be in the offing. (More President Obama stories.) Report an error