Does this year's election have as much hype and excitement as 2008 or have the past four years created a gap in the enthusiasm? Our Nick Reisman reports.

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- President Obama rode to victory in 2008 thanks, in part, to a nation that enthusiastically embraced his message of change. The history making moment of the first black president that followed eight years of war and economic troubles. But it seems unlikely that Democrats can replicate that moment in time.

Representative Paul Tonko said, “There's no denying that the history of that election drove a certain level of energy, but as we get closer, with 60 some days remaining, people are now getting focused on the difference. They're citing the contrast now.”

Pundits are calling it an enthusiasm gap. The economy remains in neutral and thousands are still out of work. But Democrats insist that the spirit of ‘08 is alive and well.

“You can tell from the attendance that we have, from the buzz that we have, that people are very excited,” Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner said.

And then there's the question as to whether Americans are better off now than they were four years ago. For Republicans, it's a resounding no. Democrats push back, arguing that the election is about the next four years, too.

“People who didn't have health insurance four years ago, they now have health insurance today. You know, it's also going to be about what's happening in the future, too,” Illinois Governor Pat Quinn said.

But rapper will.i.am, a prominent celebrity supporter of the president's, urges that enthusiasm shouldn't be confused with the media's tendency to overhype politics.

“Just being enthused for the hoopla, a lot of that was plastered all over the TV. You couldn’t run from it. There was business behind why people were tuned in. It was every, single television station. They treated it like the Super Bowl because it made money for networks,” he said.