I've got work to do: Obama launches his re-election bid

Barack Obama today conceded he had "a lot more work to do" to save the US economy as he kicked off his bid for a second term in the White House.

In a prime-time interview on CBS the president listed his first term achievements as the assassination of Osama bin Laden and ending the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy barring gays from openly serving in the military. But he added: "When it comes to the economy, we've got a lot more work to do."

The battle for the White House is set to focus on the economy with debates between the prospective Republican candidates dominated by the subject.

Mr Obama hopes the country will give him credit for avoiding a second Great Depression, bailing out the auto industry and passing a health care law.

During the interview with CBS television news show 60 Minutes, he said he was not concerned about who won the Republican candidacy because their core philosophies were the same.

Mr Obama admitted that if voters believe in the Republican agenda of lower taxes and weaker regulations, he will be defeated in next year's poll.

But he said: "I don't think that's where the American people are going to go because I don't think the American people believe that based on what they've seen before. The contrast in visions between where I want to take the country and... where they say they want to take the country is going to be stark. And the American people are going to have a good choice and it's going to be a good debate."

He described both of the top Republican candidates, Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, as political fixtures.

Of Mr Gingrich he said: "He's somebody who's been around a long time, and is good on TV, is good in debates.But Mitt Romney has shown himself to be somebody who's good at politics as well. He's had a lot of practice at it."

In the latest Republican debate, the trailing candidates turned their fire on Mr Romney and Mr Gingrich as polls showed them pulling further ahead.

Michele Bachmann combined them into a "Newt Romney" character and Ron Paul argued that they came from "the same mould". Rick Perry said voters were not looking for a fact-spewing "robot." The nominations process begins on January 3.

An ultra-conservative "Tea Party" group has been accused of racism over its depiction of Mr Obama as a skunk. The Kansas-based Patriot Freedom Alliance said on its website that like the president, the skunk is "half black, half white, and almost everything it does stinks".

Darrell Pope, of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People, said it was a blatant statement of racism. The PAT claimed the depiction was satire.