Washington ? Confronting his Republican opponents, President Barack Obama told Iowa Democrats on Tuesday that the stakes of the 2012 election are much higher than when the state launched his presidential bid four years ago.

“We’re battling millions of dollars of negative advertising and lobbyists and special interests who don’t want to see the change that you worked so hard to fully take root,” Obama said in a teleconference with Democrats attending precinct caucuses. “And that’s why this time out is going to be, in some ways, more important than the first time out.”

Obama outlined his progress during the first term, telling activists in the live video link that because of their support, the Iraq War ended, a major health care overhaul bill was signed into law and the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on gays was no longer in use.

“The problems that we’ve been dealing with over the last three years, they didn’t happen overnight and we’re not going to fix them overnight,” Obama said. Democrats estimated that more than 25,000 Iowans attended Democratic caucuses.

Obama wasted little time getting back in front of voters following a Hawaiian vacation spent largely out of the spotlight. Today, Obama will travel to Cleveland for an event focused on the economy.