On campaign's last day, Obama heads to Iowa

• Obama hosts a rally the eve of Election Day in Des Moines
• Before Iowa, Obama also headlines last-day rallies in Wisconsin and Ohio
• Obama spent Sunday in Concord, N.H., making his closing arguments

CONCORD, N.H. — President Obama will end his last day of campaigning Monday in the state where his presidential drive began: Iowa.

Obama hosts a rally the eve of Election Day in Des Moines exactly four years, 10 months and two days after his victory in the 2008 Iowa Democratic caucuses propelled him to his party's nomination, and on to the White House.

"I started my presidential journey right here," Obama said during a Saturday re-election rally in another frequently visited Iowa city, Dubuque.

Before Iowa, Obama also headlines last-day rallies in Wisconsin and Ohio. Right around midnight, Obama is scheduled to travel back to his home in Chicago, where he is scheduled to spend Election Day itself.

The Des Moines event caps a frantic stretch in which the incumbent president has focused on eight swing states that will likely decide his race against Republican challenger Mitt Romney: Iowa, Ohio, Wisconsin, Virginia, Florida, Colorado, Nevada and New Hampshire.

On Sunday, from the blustery winds here in Concord to the sunny skies of Hollywood, Fla., Obama echoed a "final argument" stump speech in which he said his domestic policies are reviving an economy near collapse in 2008, and that his foreign policies are forging a safer world.

During an outdoor rally at the old state courthouse in chilly Concord, Obama told 14,000 supporters that "we have made real progress," citing job increases, the health care law, new financial regulations and education and energy programs. He promoted the end of the war in Iraq, the winding down of the war in Afghanistan and the 2010 raid that killed terrorist leader Osama bin Laden.

Obama also sought to revive warm memories of the economic boom of the 1990s, saying his policies are basically the same as those of Democratic predecessor Bill Clinton. The former president joined Obama on the stump in New Hampshire, as well as during a Saturday event at a music pavilion in Northern Virginia.

Meanwhile, Obama sought to link Romney with Republican George W. Bush. Obama said that, like Bush, Romney would cut taxes for the rich and reduce regulations on business, and again cripple the economy. Tuesday's election is a choice "between a return to the top-down policies that crashed our economy, and an economy that's built from the middle out and the bottom up and creates a strong, growing middle class," Obama said in New Hampshire.

In his final weekend dash, Obama said he is creating change, while Romney wants to return to a discredited Republican past. "We know what change looks like, and what he's selling ain't it," Obama said of Romney during his stop in Hollywood, Fla.

The final day begins with a rally in Madison. While Wisconsin has been a Democratic state in recent presidential elections, Obama is trying to fend off a late charge by Romney and running mate Paul Ryan, a Badger State native. The president plays the celebrity card in Madison; singer/songwriter Bruce Springsteen is scheduled to perform there.

He and his entourage then journey to what may be the biggest state of all: Ohio. A rally at Nationwide Arena in Columbus will also feature Springsteen, as well as musician Jay-Z.

The president then takes the sentimental journey to Iowa. First lady Michelle Obama will introduce her husband at the rally in the historic Des Moines commercial and residential area known as East Village.

Obama has often expressed his fondness for the Hawkeye State. His 2008 win there established him as a formidable national candidate. He rode that momentum all the way to the White House.

Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt said Iowa is a place of "special importance" for the president and his supporters. "That's where we proved in 2008 that people coming together to organize their communities was still the most powerful force in American politics and the way to bring change," he said.