A year ago, Barack Obama and Joe Biden were in the home stretch of a pulsating White House race, belting out speeches to pumped up crowds and days away from crushing Republican John McCain. The Democratic duo, now president and vice president, are back on the stump again, but the euphoric crowds have thinned and the electrifying crusade for change seems somewhat sullied by the inevitable compromises of governing.
Taking time out from multiple crises, Obama has reeled off a string of appearances, polishing his own political skills in some of the few races scheduled a year before much more important 2010 mid-term Congressional polls.
Stumping for lagging Democratic gubernatorial candidates, and filling party coffers at big money fundraisers, Obama is also trying to reassure members of his Democratic support base, as critical moments loom for his agenda.
Like many presidents, freed for a few hours from the burden of power, Obama appears liberated on the campaign trail, firing off sarcastic attacks on Republicans seeking to thwart his administration.
Last week, at a Democratic fundraiser in New York, he lambasted foes who mocked his failure to win the 2016 Olympics for his hometown Chicago.
"I mean, who's against the Olympics? - what's up with that? - You know? That's a sad thing, isn't it?" Obama is reminding core Democrats, some of whom fear he will compromise their ideals on health care reform or deploy more troops to Afghanistan, that change is hard, but still possible.
He could do with a shot of political adrenaline himself: his mid 50s approval rating in recent polls is holding steady, but is well below the soaring heights of the early days of his administration. On a recent trip to California Obama slammed Republicans for thwarting his bid to clean up after the Bush administration.
"I'm busy ... with our mop cleaning up somebody else's mess - we don't want somebody sitting back saying, you're not holding the mop the right way ... you're not mopping fast enough, that's a socialist mop," he said. Several races this year are providing an early test of whether the epic 2008 presidential campaign really did remake the electoral map for Democrats.
Obama became the first Democratic presidential candidate to win Virginia for more than 40 years, riding a change-fuelled message in state where demographic changes watered down a legacy of racial tension and deep conservatism.
But, one year later, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds is reeling from the economic crisis, Republican assaults branding Obama a "big government liberal", and his own liabilities as a campaigner. Obama will make a second trip to Virginia next week to boost Deeds, who polls show behind Republican Robert McDonnell by an average of 10 points ahead of election day on November 3.
"We've worked too hard and come too far to let Virginia slip back," Obama said in a message to Virginians released with a new Deeds campaign ad Tuesday.
Obama is also trying to revive another Democrat, New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine, and travelled to the Garden state for a rally in the tight race on Wednesday.
If challenger Chris Christie wins the staunchly Democratic state, Republicans are sure to argue they have started to reverse the Obama tide.