A day after some national polls showed President Obama’s edge over Mitt Romney evaporating, he responded first thing on Tuesday with a new commercial featuring Big Bird of “Sesame Street” and Mr. Romney’s debate-night vow to cut financing for PBS.

It did not exactly take flight.

The creators of “Sesame Street” had asked Mr. Obama to leave Big Bird out of it. And even some Democrats said the ad, suggesting that Mr. Romney would be tougher on “Sesame Street” than on Wall Street, was not the salve that nervous party activists and volunteers were looking for.

“The right message is that on Friday, we saw great economic news,” said Brian Moran, the chairman of the Virginia Democratic Party, referring to new data showing that the national unemployment rate fell to 7.8 percent in September. “Things are moving in the right direction. That’s where the focus should be, and not on the debate.”

Big Bird was part of a broader effort by Mr. Obama and his team to reassure supporters — many of whom were confident a week ago that the election was all but assured — that his campaign had not lost its intensity or focus. By later in the day, Mr. Obama was delivering a spirited campaign appearance in Columbus, Ohio, his aides were reaching out to big donors with a calming message that they had always expected a tight finish, and the campaign had released new ads in battleground states on issues like potential cuts to Medicaid.