From now unitl the election presidential campaigns will take aim at Ohio and other key states

Barack Obama unveiled an updated version of hope and change Thursday night in accepting the Democratic Party's nomination for president.

He clearly hopes that his message of accomplishment and optimism will convince voters - particularly in swing states like Ohio - that now is not the time to make a change.

But the realities of a still struggling economy, wars and unrest on foreign soil and a well-financed Republican Party criticizing and questioning every decision he's made will make for bruising campaign season for the president.

In his DNC speech Obama, a gifted and inspiring orator, clearly followed the long-held belief that elections are about the next term not the last term, and that promises, potential and platitudes can inspire an electorate.

Yet as they did last week and will continue to do until election day, the Republicans and Mitt Romney - boosted by the bottomless wallets of Super PACs - will make the case that the country is headed in the wrong direction with Barack Obama at the helm.

Meanwhile the president and the Democrats will work to ignite their base and motivate coveted independents with a message that the GOP is all about gloom and doom while the emphasis should be on solving problems and creating opportunity.

That worked four years ago, when Obama was a fresh-faced outsider offering an attractive alternative to eight years of Bush fatigue, two wars and a depression-like economy.

But after a near full-term in the White House, are voters still listening when Obama says that better days are ahead?

The next two months are a political sprint. Both parties have wrapped up their conventions, made lots of promises and disparaged and attacked the other side. Now, the pace is even more frantic. The attack ads will grow sharper. The rhetoric will become more heated. The money will flow like water out of a hose. And Ohio voters are right in the middle of the battle.

By Nov. 6, Ohio residents will be tired of campaign ads, sick of direct mail and worn down by the presidential race. But when you consider that out of 50 states just a chosen few - Ohio, Florida, Virginia and a couple of others - will chose the next president, then it's time to sit back and enjoy what is going to be an historic ride.

Patrick Crowley is a political contributor for 9 News. Read Crowley’s bio at http://www.wcpo.com/dpp/about_us/patrick-crowley-bio .