LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- With a touch of humor and at one point admonition, President Obama urged supporters at a Los Angeles fundraiser here not to lose enthusiasm for his campaign just because he had one lousy debate performance.

The president kicked off his remarks with an allusion to last Wednesday night that the whole crowd seemed to pick up on. Praising his opening acts at the Nokia Theater here, which included Stevie Wonder, Jon Bon Jovi and Katy Perry, Obama said, “These guys perform flawlessly night after night.”

“I can’t always say the same,” he continued, waiting a beat for comic timing.

And later he reminded his audience that he had some imperfect moments during the last campaign as well.

“Everybody always remembers the victory but they don’t always remember the bumps in the road; things always look good in retrospect.

“But in the middle of it, we were – we made all kinds of mistakes. We goofed up, I goofed up, but the American people carried us forward,” urging his supporters not to forget that they stuck by him even when he hiccupped in 2008 – something he hopes they do over the next 30 days.