Keller @ Large: Obama 2012 Sales Pitch

BOSTON (CBS) - President Obama unveiled his 2012 campaign yesterday with the release of a low-key online video featuring a bunch of his supporters talking about how they plan to work hard to get him re-elected.

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Noticeably missing from the presentation was any real explanation of why.

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Issues like education and job creation were mentioned obliquely, and only in passing.

Perhaps the strongest pro-Obama testimonial came from a man who said he didn't always agree with the president, but he trusted him. And in a conference call with supporters later in the day, the president himself didn't offer much more of an answer.

"We may not have the same exact newness as in 2008," he said, in a major understatement. According to the web site Politico, the president cited only two first-term accomplishments – the repeal of the policy barring gays from serving openly in the military, and the reduction of our involvement in Iraq, the latter an odd choice given the escalation in Afghanistan and the new involvement in Libya.

And to supporters disappointed in his slow or non-existent progress on other parts of his campaign agenda from 2008, the president noted: "In a democracy change takes time. If there are some things we have not gotten done yet it's because we have not yet been able to mobilize the American people around these issues."

In short, the president is approaching his final campaign with the familiar air of a man who's been mugged by reality.

Most of the fancy rhetoric of the campaign turned out to be baby talk, exposed as such by the grim realities of governing a divided country, just as George W. Bush's "compassionate conservatism" fell apart once he took office.

Whipping up supporters during a campaign is one thing, bringing a nation together is another, much harder task.

Of course, none of this speaks to the issues of whether or not he should or will have a second term. That will depend on unfolding events, and whom he winds up running against.

Suffice to say that so far, the delivery has fallen short of the sales pitch. And a new sales pitch that doesn't get laughed out of town by disgruntled customers has yet to be formulated.

You can listen to Keller At Large on WBZ News Radio every weekday at 7:55 a.m. and 12:25 p.m. You can also watch Jon on WBZ-TV News.