Updated 4:32 p.m. - DAVENPORT, IA -- President Barack Obama kicked off a swing state barnstorm with a rally Wednesday in Davenport, Iowa – the state he credits with giving his 2008 campaign its first big boost.
“This is the first stop on our 48-hour fly-around campaign marathon extravaganza,” Obama told a crowd of 3,500 at the Mississippi River fairgrounds.
“We're going to pull an all-nighter -- no sleep. We're starting here in Iowa; we're going to Colorado, then we're going to go Nevada, then we're going to Florida, Virginia, Ohio. I am going to stop in Chicago to vote,” he said, urging the crowd to vote early in Iowa, as he will in his hometown.
Obama also continued to hit a theme of “who can you trust more,” saying that, unlike Romney, Obama’s positions on issues over the past decade have been consistent.
“You could take a videotape of things I've said 10 years ago, 12 years ago and you'd say, man, this is the same guy, has the same values, cares about the same people - doesn't forget where he came from. Knows who he's fighting for,” he said.
The Romney campaign responded to the president's event with a statement from campaign spokesman Ryan Williams: "President Obama proved once again today that his campaign is getting smaller and smaller as Election Day approaches. Another four years of President Obama’s policies will mean lower incomes, higher taxes, and more debt. A glossy brochure full of the same policies that haven’t worked over the last four years is no substitute for a real agenda that will help grow the middle class and restore America’s strength. In two weeks, Americans will choose Governor Romney's positive agenda over President Obama's increasingly desperate attacks.”
After the rally in Davenport, the president was headed to Denver, CO for another campaign event.
