The morning after the final televised presidential debate, the US President yesterday began his push to the campaign finish line in the key state of Florida before moving to Ohio.
Before election day on November 6, Mr Obama will zigzag across the country for battleground state visits, but he can be expected to concentrate on Ohio.
Increasingly, this state is seen as the Democrat President's buffer against defeat if Mr Romney's campaign momentum of the past month continues.
In the Obama campaign's thinking, the state of Florida that the President won in 2008 after it figured so significantly eight years earlier in the Bush-Gore election could be forfeited if necessary this time. But Ohio, an industrial heartland state in the US midwest, is considered vital to Mr Obama's quest for a target of 270 state-based electoral college votes he needs to win the presidency.
No Republican has won the presidency without Ohio: the degree of difficulty for Mr Romney to reach the 270 total would become so much harder without it.
In a sign of growing confidence in the Romney camp, the Republican contender began his campaign day in Nevada, a former Obama stronghold, before heading to Colorado.
The latest polls, showing Mr Obama and Mr Romney tied at a national level, give the Republican a slight advantage in Florida, which has a high proportion of conservative retirees, Jewish voters and Hispanics in small business.
After strong performances in televised debates have lifted Mr Romney's standing, the Republican campaign is behaving like Florida is in the bag and that it can widen the campaign net to states previously thought unwinnable.
While Ohio remains a challenge for Mr Romney, he now looks strong in Obama territory states such as Virginia, Iowa and New Hampshire. He has hopes of wins in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, although the Obama camp insists these remain solidly its way.
Mr Obama entered the first of three presidential debates this month with a clear advantage after his party's convention gave him a huge poll ratings boost, even equalling Mr Romney on the question of which candidate was best able to manage the economy.
The dynamic changed after the first debate when Mr Romney appeared much more confident on his feet and able to jab at the President's economic record.
In two debate encounters since, Mr Obama has lifted his game considerably, but it remains unclear whether the late fight back can restore his authority.
After previously aggressive performances, Mr Romney was more subdued in this week's debate on foreign policy, a move interpreted as an attempt to appear presidential and to play down the notion he is a warmonger.
On Iran, Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan, the Republican appeared to agree with Mr Obama's position, but he still blasted the President as weak for not promoting sufficiently US leadership to shape world events.
Mr Obama sought to undermine Mr Romney's credibility yesterday, saying he had changed his positions so many times he could not be believed. "There is no more serious issue in a presidential campaign than trust," the President said. "Everything he's doing right now is trying to hide his real positions in order to win this election."
In this week's debate, Mr Romney backed off from a more muscular position, affirming he preferred Mr Obama's course of tougher sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program, and did not want to start another war in the Middle East.
Another difficult area for Mr Romney remains his pledge to cut US income taxes across the board by 20 per cent, yet still balance the budget. The Republican says the tax cuts would be revenue neutral, but he has declined to identify which tax deductions would be eliminated to pay for them.
Mr Obama's main problem, apart from a chronic high unemployment level, is his difficulty articulating a clear second-term agenda.
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