SPRINGFIELD, Ohio--He may have appeared sluggish at his first debate with Mitt Romney several weeks ago, but President Barack Obama emphasized that he's energized heading into the final weekend of the campaign.
Obama addressed a modest but lively crowd here on Friday, the second of three rallies in the crucial state of Ohio, where he delivered a message that seemed aimed toward his Democratic base. In what was one of the most fiery moments of his nearly 30-minute speech to supporters in a high-school gym, Obama promised to refuse to compromise on a range of issues, and implored supporters to stay with him even if they were "frustrated with the pace of change" during his first term.
"I'm a very nice guy, people will tell you. But if the price of peace in Washington is cutting deals that kick students off of financial aid or [cutting] funding for Planned Parenthood or letting insurance companies discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions or eliminating health care for millions of folks on Medicaid who are elderly or disabled or poor, I'm not going to take that deal," Obama said. "I'll fight against that deal. ... That's not change, that's surrender to a status quo that has hurt too many American families and I'm not going to go along with it!"
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Over the roar of the crowd, he added: "I'm a long ways away from giving up on this fight. I got a lot of fight left in me. I don't get tired. I don't grow weary."
Obama reiterated a response to Romney he delivered at an earlier rally on Friday concerning a Republican ad suggesting that an Ohio Jeep plant was shutting down to build the car in China, and called for a "renaissance" in U.S.-based manufacturing.
The tone of his remarks seemed more aggressive than it has at his most recent rallies, perhaps with the goal of emphasizing the importance of his party's get-out-the-vote effort in a state that could make the difference between a second term or an early retirement.
The president even added an extra tag to a line he uses at almost every rally when supporters hiss at the mention of Romney's name. "Don't boo, vote," he said. "Voting's the best revenge."