Obama: 'fired up, ready to go' one more time

President Barack Obama delivered his final campaign speech in a chilly Des Moines, Iowa Monday night in remarks peppered with references to his 2008 campaign and the Iowa caucus victory that helped catapult his political career.

"I've come back to Iowa one more time to ask for your vote," Obama told the battleground crowd. "Help us finish what we started because this is where our movement of change began."

Iowa voters who "showed up at town hall meetings in 2007," know what "real change" looks like, the president said.

"You taught me to bet on hope," he added.

He even recounted the story of the Greenville, South Carolina woman, Edith Childs, who inspired the "fired up, ready to go" chant of his first presidential campaign.

"Iowa, in 2008 your vote changed the world and Edith Childs asked me to ask you that if you're willing to stand with me tomorrow ... she's pretty sure we'll win Iowa," Obama said. "She's pretty sure we'll win this election, and she just has one question for you and that is, are you fired up?"

To which the crowd of 20,000 chanted, "Ready to go."

Nostalgia was a theme throughout the day for the Obama campaign. Members of the 2008 campaign team joined their former boss on the trail and Obama aides were clad in vintage 2008 clothing. His 2008 campaign Hawkeye State headquarters also served as a backdrop to Monday's rally, in addition to the score of "Forward" signs and oversized American flags.

Michelle Obama, who introduced her husband at the event, recalled the time her family spent in the state four years ago: the house parties, local campaign headquarters, celebrating their daughter Malia's birthday and seeing "my husband's face carved in butter."

"Long before most people even knew his name, you saw what I saw," she said. "Tomorrow we get to finish what we started here."

While the president showed his feelings -- a few tears streamed down his face as he thanked his supporters -- the first lady acknowledged it is an "emotional time" for her family.

"This is the final event of my husband's final campaign," she said. "This is the last time he and I will be on stage together at a campaign rally. That is why we wanted to come to Iowa tonight because truly this is where it all began, right here."