CAMBRIDGE, Md. – President Obama and Vice President Biden on Friday worked to rally congressional Democrats preparing to do battle with Republicans leading into the 2012 election.

In remarks at the annual House Democratic retreat near the shore of Chesapeake Bay, Obama rallied the House Democrats with a campaign-style speech in which he defended Democrats’ legislative accomplishments over the past three years, acknowledged that lawmakers have had to make some “tough decisions” and reprised many of the arguments he made in Tuesday’s State of the Union address.

“We righted the ship,” he said. “We did not tip into a Great Depression. The auto industry was saved. Credit started flowing to small businesses again. And over the last 22 months, we have seen 3 million jobs created, the most jobs last year since 2005. … A lot of that has to do with the tough decisions that you took.”

Obama left the tough talk to Biden, who earlier Friday delivered searing criticism of GOP leaders and the presidential field.

Their remarks came on the third and final day of the annual House Democratic retreat, where Democrats are gearing up to go on offense against their GOP counterparts as they try to win back the House.

Obama got an enthusiastic reception, including a recording of House Democrats singing their own version of the Al Green song “Let’s Stay Together,” as a symbol of their unity. Obama sang a line from the tune at a fundraiser last week.

House Republicans held a similar retreat last week.

The two speeches came as Democrats were dealt some good news Friday morning: Newly released figures showed that at the end of last year, the U.S. economy had grown at its fastest pace in 18 months.

Still, Obama’s approval rating has fallen from 54 percent this time last year to 48 percent, according to Washington Post/ABC News polling.