ELYRIA: President Barack Obama has vowed to “never stop fighting” for struggling Americans in a fiery counter-attack

aimed at mending Democratic morale and his frayed bond with voters.

Obama sought to recapture the passion of his 2008 campaign yesterday, after a wake-up call from voters

in liberal Massachusetts who sent a Republican to the Senate, and with his health care plan and wider agenda under assault in Congress.

“I’ll never stop fighting to give every American a fair shake,” Obama said at a town-hall style meeting in the rust-belt state of Ohio, a vital bellwether in mid-term elections in November shaping up as another hit for Democrats.

Striking populist notes, Obama said he would fight Wall Street to restore home values, for his embattled health plan, to stop credit card companies cheating customers and to cut “exploding” deficits.

Five days before his showpiece State of the Union address, Obama also gave no sign of backing down on reforming health care, even as the historic bill looks to be becalmed in Congress.

“I got to admit, we hit a bit of a buzz saw,” Obama said of the year-long effort to pass the reform, which now looks doubtful after Democrats lost their 60-seat Senate supermajority needed to thwart Republican blocking tactics. “I had no illusions when I took on health care. It was always going to be hard,” Obama said.

“And I’m going to keep up the fight for real, meaningful health insurance reforms.” Posing as the champion of regular people, Obama added:

“I can promise you, there will be more fights in the days ahead.” Obama critics, some of them Democrats, have faulted him for not being sufficiently passionate in fighting economic blight, for siding too much with Wall Street and appearing aloof while everyday Americans struggle.

But with his soaring approval ratings of just a year ago wilting, the president told a crowd in Ohio: “You know what, I win when you win.” “So long as I have the privilege of serving as your president, I’ll never stop fighting for you. I’ll take my lumps, too.” His day of rubbing shoulders with Ohioans in colleges, factories and a small town bar were designed to enhance the president’s “regular guy” credentials and to convince people he knows how tough things are.

“The truth is, being president is also a little confining,” Obama said, explaining how he came to neglect his connection with Americans as he faced multiple crises in his first year in office.

In the depressed town of Elyria, Obama made a surprise stop at a bar and restaurant known as “Smitty’s — Where Friends Meet,” in an apparent bid to burnish his image as a man of the people.