Obama needs all the help he can get.

After a week of major criticism for the “private sector is doing fine” gaff and poor poll ratings, Obama is looking to put a tough couple days behind him by rallying donors in what could be an election-changing swing state.

And so, the President traveled to Philadelphia Tuesday for a fund raiser to talk progress, change and hope.

Held at the Franklin Institute, the event opened with words from Philadelphia City Councilwoman Cindy Bass, Phila Reps. Bob Brady and Chaka Fattah, Mayor Michael Nutter and Sen. Bob Casey.

Throughout his speech, Obama emphasized moving forward, not backward, and noted the progress already made by his administration and the progress yet to come:

“The reason we came together was because we shared a belief in the basic bargain that built this country; the idea that if you’re willing to work hard, if you’re willing to take responsibility, that in this country you can make it. That you can find a job that pays a living wage, and you can save and buy a home. You can send your kids to college so they do even better than you did. You can retire with some dignity and some respect. The idea that no matter where you come from, no matter what you look like, no matter what your faith, no matter who you love, that in America you can make it if you try.”

He touted the same accomplishments that his wife, First Lady Michelle, talked about during her visit to Philadelphia last week.

Obama also took to the opportunity to criticize his opponent Mitt Romney’s plan for America, using terms similar to those in his “Romney Economics” ads – that it didn’t work then, and it won’t work now.

“And I guess he thinks either it would result in a different outcome than it did when we just tried this 10 years ago, or he and the Republican Congress are counting on the notion that we forgot how it turned out. We didn’t forget. We remember. We’re not going back. We’re moving forward.”

Obama has his work cut out for him. Several GOP leaders in the state preempted the PA visit with a press call to take jabs at Obama for both his private sector comment and a recent GOP victory in the U.S. House, where a bill to repeal part of an Obamacare tax passed with bipartisan support.

Mitt Romney is also slated to make an appearance in PA later this week.