WASHINGTON (AP) — It's more than President Barack Obama's lackluster debate performance that has some Democrats on edge a month from Election Day.

Party loyalists, in Washington and in battleground states, are fretting that Obama's campaign has been slow to rebound after Republican Mitt Romney's commanding debate. They're worried that the Democratic ticket isn't aggressive enough in blocking Romney's post-debate pivot to the political center. And they fear Romney's new effort to show a softer side gives the Republican nominee an opening with female voters, who are crucial to the president's re-election prospects.

"I'm not feeling very positive," said Awilda Marquez, a prominent Democrat in Colorado. "I know that it's only the first debate, but he can't seem to change the relentless negative coverage. Romney has been able to take control."