Obama: 'I'm Sort Of A Prop In The Campaign'

In a speech to supporters in Virginia on Saturday night, President Barack Obama told the crowd, "I'm sort of a prop in the campaign."

"You know, I was backstage with David Plouffe, some of you guys know he's sort of a mastermind of campaign organization and we were talking about how as the campaign goes on, we become less relevant," the president said. "I'm sort of a prop in the campaign. He's just bothering a bunch of folks, calling, asking what's going on."

He continued, "You know, but the power is not with us anymore. The planning, everything we do, it doesn't matter because now it's all up to you. It's up to the volunteers. It's up to somebody knocking on a door. It's up to somebody making a phone call. It's up to somebody talking to their mom, or their dad, or their wife or their husband, or their grandma or grandpa, and that's how democracy is supposed to be. It's up to you. You've got the power."

Obama delivered his remarks after former president Bill Clinton delivered a fiery speech to introduce the president in the critical battleground. The AP reports:

Clinton, his voice hoarse from a flurry of campaign events, said he had given "my voice in the service of my president." The former president vouched for Obama's economic agenda, saying he had done a good job with a bad hand.

Obama, in his fourth rally of the day, sought to draw a connection between the flush economy Clinton presided over and his own policies for a second term, including increasing taxes on upper income earners.

The joint rally drew more than 24,000 people to an outdoor arena on a chilly November night. Obama and Clinton will campaign together again Sunday morning in New Hampshire.

The latest polls out on the presidential race show Obama holding a slim advantage over Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney in key swing states, including Virginia.