GOP chair: Plenty of time to challenge Obama

[April 05, 2011]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- The head of the GOP says Republicans have "plenty of time" to mount a challenge to President Barack Obama in 2012.

Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus (ryns PREE'-bus) told NBC's "Today" on Tuesday that his party has "at least a dozen candidates testing the waters."

Obama kicked off his re-election campaign Monday. Priebus said Obama's timing, during a week in which Congress and the White House are fiercely debating budget cuts, "shows how tone-deaf he is."

Priebus says American voters want "substance" and Obama "isn't providing it."

Among the likely GOP contenders, only former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty has filed paperwork with the Federal Elections Commission. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich are among the big names expected to enter the race.

[Associated Press]

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