Obama to run 2012 re-election campaign from Chicago

US President Barack Obama will run his re-election campaign based out of Chicago even as his close aide laid to rest media speculations about Obama seeking a re-election in 2012.

Robert Gibbs, press secretary at the White House told journalists that the president may file his papers in the future that will officially make him a candidate.

Referring to a New York Times report that Obama would be seeking re-election, Gibbs said, I think it is likely that that's going to happen, obviously.

I will say this. I think as the article says, the President is likely to file papers in the future that would officially make him a candidate. But I think it's safe to say, that the President -- we've started and we've made some progress on getting our economy back in order, and I think the President wants to continue to do that,” Gibbs said.

The report said Obama had approved the decision to have his campaign headquarter in Chicago, which is considered a rare move for a sitting president who normally has his office in the beltway.

As part of changes in the Obama administration and members moving to Chicago to prepare for Obama's re-election bid, the president's deputy chief of staff Jim Messina will serve as campaign manager, the newspaper reported.

Julianna Smoot, social secretary at the White House and Jennifer O’Malley Dillon, executive director of the DNC, both of whom were Obama’s campaign deputies in 2008, will now round out the campaign leadership team according to the report.

Meanwhile, a Washington Post report on Friday quoted White House officials as saying that Obama would formally announce his candidacy around April when he files the official paperwork with the Federal Election Commission.