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Today, even the most ardent Obama backers acknowledge that incumbency and a limping economy have caused excitement about his re-election effort to ebb. Obama has acknowledged it himself, saying the campaign this year isn't as "sexy" as it was four years ago. First lady Michelle Obama tried to rekindle a sense of mission on a recent visit to Dale City, Va., where she implored volunteers to give it their all. "Making all those phone calls, registering voters, giving people the information they need on issues they care about
-- that work is at the core of everything we do," she said. "It's not just that we support one extraordinary man ... we are doing it because of the values and the vision for the country we all share." The sense of shared values brought Costa Rica native Gina Bonewit into the Obama campaign office in St. Petersburg, where she said she now spends 15 hours a week making phone calls. "The president has done a good job trying to rebuild. That's what guides me here," said Bonewit, 37, pointing to Obama's health care law and support for equal pay for women as reasons she continues to volunteer. Obama's recently announced support for gay marriage helped motivate Mindy Bertram to get involved. The 19-year old Virginia Wesleyan College sophomore said she expected young people to back the president as forcefully as they did in 2008, when Obama won two-thirds of voters under age 30. "I feel strongly about this campaign, especially as a young voter," Bertram said. "I believe Barack Obama is fighting for middle-class families and for everyone to have opportunities." Not surprisingly, Romney's supporters express far different views of the president when describing their decisions to volunteer. Matt Gagnon, who said he spends 20 hours a week doing digital work for the Virginia Republican Victory Fund, said concern about the economy and his 5-year old son's future led him to volunteer. "I don't believe the president has any capability of managing the economy in any way, shape or form," said Gagnon, 31. "Gov. Romney has a good handle on it. The contrast is pretty strong." In St. Petersburg, Fla., retired web designer Dorine McKinnon said she spends two days a week volunteering for Romney because she is frightened by Obama and Democratic leaders. She believes they are hostile to business. "They don't seem to understand that when businesses make money, the employees of that business make money," said McKinnon, 59. She said: "Obama says things are getting better. But that's not what I'm seeing."
[Associated
Press;
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