Just before Obama went on, we managed to catch a word with his senior adviser David Axelrod who – when asked how the president was doing in these last days of campaigning – said: "You'll see for yourself. This is his last election, he's really energised."

And so he was. I haven't heard Obama as fired up at a rally like this one since 2008. In the events I've seen him at this year he's always been 10% reserved, 20% professorial. A pale reflection of the "hope and change" merchant of four years ago. But this time he was back to the firebrand of 08, his speech belching out of him like it came from the gut.

I know it's become unfashionable to talk about Obama the orator – he over did it with the promises and the rhetoric four years ago and to no small extent he's been paying the price ever since. But when he turns it on, it still sends electricity through the crowd, and it did here.

The anger towards Romney was palpable. "The folks at the top in this country don't need another champion in Washington. They already have a seat at the table," he said. Romney didn't represent change, or the future. "To make sure no matter who you are or where you come from you can make it in America, that's the future."

It is stating the obvious that Obama's supporters in the crowd loved him. But actually, at this late stage in the election, that is of huge importance. His mission here was to fire up the base so that they get out this weekend knocking on doors and getting out the vote. With poll margins razor-thin in Ohio, the candidate that has the edge in inspiring his faithful followers over the next four days in this crucial battleground state is likely to be the next occupant of the White House.

So it matters that Pam Bishop, 60, looked at the end of Obama's speech as though she'd just seen an angel, and vowed to work hard from now to the end of election day. "I think he is amazing. I think he gets what the country needs and he's willing to work for every single one of us."

And it particularly mattered that Rick McCurdy, 59, said he found the speech "very motivating". McCurdy is one of the one in eight Ohioans who work in the auto industry, in his case for Honda US, and he says without the auto bailout he might have lost his job. "I'm not ready to go backwards," he said, echoing one of Obama's mantras. "I want to see him moving forwards with the recovery."