In 2008, thousands turned out for Obama's final election rally in Manassas. The Guardian spoke to those who saw that emotional address and asked them: how has the president fared?

Four years ago, on the eve of election day 2008, Barack Obama held his final rally. Those in the vast crowd that night in Manassas, Virginia, remember it as a moment of political magic.

One writer described it later as this generation's Woodstock moment. It brought together young and old, from different ethnic backgrounds, gathering in their tens of thousands next to a famous civil war battlefield as America was on the verge of electing its first black president.

It was a chaotic evening, with Obama running late, not speaking until close to midnight. The rally was held in a field, next to a fairground, which, added to low-lying fog, gave proceedings a slightly surreal glow.

Roads were blocked for miles around such was the press of people wanting to see him, cars abandoned by the roads miles back. Police estimated the crowd at 80,000, while the Obama campaign put it at 100,000. Either way, it was one of the biggest turnouts of the entire campaign.

Skip forward to the closing days of the 2012 campaign, and Obama was once again in Prince William County. But Saturday night was a more orderly affair. The crowd, at 24000, was big for a bitterly cold evening, but nowhere close to the 2008 event. There was not the same level of excitement, the wild expectations for Obama in 2008 having largely gone unrealised.

And yet, many of those who had been at the Manassas fairground four years earlier had turned out once again, and were willing to wait in the long lines to get into the event on Saturday. So how had they fared since the man they came to see that night entered the White House. The Guardian spoke to six of them to as how the felt about Obama now.

They have been touched by the recession but not badly. They expressed tinges of disappointment but echoed little of the disillusionment expressed by the left elsewhere. And they blamed Republicans in Congress rather than Obama for what has gone wrong.

Four years on: Obama in Bristow on Saturday night. Photograph: Benjamin J Myers/Corbis

Cathy Matese, 55

A language teacher from Prince William County, Virginia, married with two children.

"What I remember that night and what made me so proud was we were standing on the site of the Civil War battlefield and about to elect the first African-American president. It made me so proud to see so many different people, black and white, young and old, so many different ethnic groups. We waited for five hours.

"The Civil War was about slavery and here we stood admiring a man that if it had been 150 years ago might have been a slave. I felt empowered by thinking about how far we have.

"I feel we have made progress. The housing market bottomed out but it is getting better. I have been fine. This is the first year we had had a raise. But we are not in teaching for the money. "

Rachel Palmer, 55

An artist from Fairfax County, Virginia, originally from the Philippines. She makes her living doing murals for people's homes, and is married with three daughters.

"He came late. People were waiting in the field and it was cold. There was just so much energy. Every ethnic group was there. It was just a microcosm of America. People were standing shoulder-to-shoulder and smiling. They were just so charged up.

"I am not disillusioned; I voted for Obama and will vote for him again. I think he did a good job given what he was faced with. There are things I wish he had worked faster on: I would like to have seen him balancing the budget in the first years, and I am not complaining when you see all the things he has fixed. Overall, it has been a hard but uplifting four years.

"I think the country is getting better. I work on my own. Business went down during the Bush years, but this last year I have seen a rise in clientele. I'm not charging what I used to."

Mark Palmer, 55

Rachel's husband, a family photographer, was also in Manassas four years ago.

"It was good to see the diversity that night: there were a lot of white people there, ready to vote for a black president. I think the fact that Manassas as a civil war battlefield played into it. It was a good thing to see in America. There is a lot of division in our country now. But look at this crowd: it is pretty diversified. You wouldn't see that at a Mitt Romney rally.

"People are tighter with money these days, and not spending as much on pictures. It is seen as a luxury, not a necessity. I have had to diversify, taking photographs of products such as food."

Gion Battle, 43

A secretary at Siemens, born and raised in Alexandria, Virginia. Moved to Manassas in 1999, and married with two girls and son.

"It was exciting in 2008 – it was like there was electricity in the air. He was late but no-one cared. We would have stayed all night. It was a really diverse mix of people. If you look at Romney events, it is a sea of white faces. You get a more diverse mix with President Obama.

"I resent people who say I vote for Obama because he is an African American, who chalk up his success to the African American support. I don't vote on the basis of colour; I didn't vote for Jesse Jackson.

"I am disappointed. Not with Obama, but with the unprecedented level of obstructionism he has faced. I was laid off from my job for a few months. I don't blame Obama. These things happen whoever the president is. I am better off economically. I have renovated the house, I have a 55in TV. It is my mom cave and there is a brand new car in the driveway."

Debbie Peterman, 56

A science teacher, originally from Richmond, Virginia, and now living in Manassas, married with two children.

"It was a little chilly that night, a little foggy. I looked behind me and it was wall-to-wall Democrats. I was so proud that in Virginia so many people would come out only hours before the election.

"I am not disappointed – I think you have to realise that the damage that was done could not be sorted in four years. The fall in house prices let teachers buy houses. I have been very lucky. My husband is a teacher and we got a raise this year of 3%. I teach science and I am glad he Obama is pushing alternative energy sources."

Earl McCuller, 52

An IT consultant with Booz Allen, originally from North Carolina, served in the army for 23 years, before settling in Bristow.

"The reason I came to the rally is because of how electrifying it was last time. I came by myself last time but I brought my wife this time.

"I am happy with the presidency. We are definitely better off. Our investments went down in 2008 but they are back up to the level they were. There have not been many jobs lost in our neighbourhood. In 2008 there were a lot of foreclosures. Before Obama took office foreclosures were going up every day. There were people just walking away from their houses. But there are no foreclosures now."