DAYTON, Ohio — President Obama started making his closing argument for a second term on Tuesday, beginning a furious two-week effort to beat back a late surge by Mitt Romney and hang on to battleground states where voters are already casting ballots in large numbers.

At the beginning of what the campaign described as a round-the-clock blitz, and on the day after his final debate, Mr. Obama tried to address what polling has shown is a consistent question among voters: What kind of agenda does he have for a second term? He released a 20-page booklet encapsulating previously announced policies and contrasting his positions to those of Mr. Romney.

The document contains no new proposals, and was derided by a spokesman for Mr. Romney as a “glossy panic button.” But along with a new television advertisement that began running in nine battleground states, the president’s aides predicted it would help counter the Romney assault plan for the next two weeks that aims to convince voters that Mr. Obama has no plans to fix the ailing economy.

Mr. Romney and his campaign spent Tuesday pounding away at points Mr. Romney made during the debate on Monday night, including accusing the president of apologizing for the United States and cutting military spending excessively. Mr. Romney flew from Florida to Nevada, where he mocked Mr. Obama’s attacks on him as desperate moves by a losing candidate.