Four years ago President Obama – or Senator Obama, as he was known then – was helped to national prominence by Iowa. Obama revisited the Midwestern state to wrap up his 2012 campaign and looked extremely overwhelmed by the support from Iowans.

Before reaching Des Moines, Iowa, the president visited the key battleground states of Ohio, Florida, Colorado, New Hampshire and Wisconsin. Obama closed his 2012 campaign in the cornfields of Iowa with a speech that echoed his speech of 2008, but instead of emphasising “hope” and “change”, Obama was asking Iowans to look “forward”.

A teary-eyed Obama stood in front of 20,000 and said, “I’ve come back to Iowa one more time to ask for your vote. I came back to ask you to help us finish what we’ve started, because this is where our movement for change began.” The president’s voice broke and he wiped tears from his face as he reflected on all of those who had helped him get this far.

In 2008, he won the Iowa caucus and this was a major factor on the road to the White House. He received more votes than fellow Democrat, and now Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton to become the Democrat’s man for president facing Republican John McCain.

Iowa is another one of many swing states, and with six electoral college votes it could give the president the edge he needs to fight off Republican Mitt Romney.

The crowd of 20,000 weren’t the first to see the most influential man in the western world tearful. In his 2008 campaign he was evidently tearful at a few events after the loss of his grandmother shortly before Election Day 2008.

President Obama looked back on his 2008 campaign and tried not to go on too much about his promise that he hasn’t fulfilled: to change the world. The president recalled to the crowd how a woman in 2008 came up with the phrase, “Fired up, ready to go,” which became synonymous which his campaign. He went on to tell the crowd, “That shows you what one voice can do. One voice can change a room. And if it can change a room, it can change a city. And if it can change a city, it can change a state. And if it can change a state, it can change a nation. And if it can change a nation, it can change the world,”

“Iowa, in 2008 your voice changed the world.”

First Lady Michelle Obama was in Des Moines with her husband, and has been very active in the past weeks, flying around the country to secure Obama remains at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue for another four years. “Truly, this is where it all began — right here,” she said looking out into the crowd of Iowan Democrats.

Americans hit the polls today, with President Obama and the First Lady staying in Chicago, the biggest city in the state he governed before becoming president. Whilst the Obamas stop their 2012 campaign, the Romneys are still very much active, with Republican Mitt Romney visiting Pennsylvania and Ohio before awaiting the results.