With the first debate of the U.S. presidential campaign behind them, President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney are heading back on the campaign trail (Thursday).

Mr. Romney will hold a rally in Virginia with his vice presidential running mate, Congressman Paul Ryan, while Mr. Obama begin his campaign day in Denver, Colorado, the site of Wednesday's debate. He will also travel to Mr. Ryan's home state of Wisconsin.

Mr. Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts, used the debate to describe the president's approach of higher taxes and government spending as “trickle-down government” that would harm the American economy and worsen the federal deficit.

Mr. Romney says middle-income Americans have been “buried” or “crushed” under high taxes and that tax rates need to come down, both for corporations and individuals.

But Mr. Obama countered that Mr. Romney's plan to cut taxes, especially for wealthy Americans, would lead to severe cuts in important domestic programs.

The president says, although the “first role” of the federal government is to “keep the people safe,” it should also create frameworks in which people can succeed. He noted that, in the past, the government has helped create railroads, research institutions and educational institutions.

The two men also sparred about the health care reform law Mr. Obama pushed through Congress. Mr. Romney repeated his pledge that he would repeal the law, commonly known as “Obamacare,” if he were elected. He criticized the president for focusing on health care rather than the economy during Mr. Obama's first years in office.

But Mr. Obama countered that health care reform was key to both small businesses and individuals.

The president said, in closing, that he wants to build on the strengths of his first four years in the White House. He says he will fight just as hard in his second term as he did in the first.

Mr. Romney concluded by saying that re-electing the president four more years of Barack Obama would mean more hardship for the middle class.

The Republican is hoping to re-energize his campaign with new momentum after observers declared he won the debate with his aggressive stance against the incumbent Democratic president. He has been struggling since a secretly-recorded videotape emerged in which he described 47 percent of voters who believed themselves as “victims” who depended on government benefits and would not support him.

The two candidates are to meet again October 16th for a town hall-style debate during which they will take questions from the audience.