ELKHART — Kim Konecny still recalls gleefully the knock at the door that Sunday in May four years ago when she opened it and was greeted by Sasha and Malia Obama.

Konecny’s home was one of six that candidate Barack Obama visited while campaigning door-to-door on Bank Street on Elkhart’s east side just days before the Indiana primary in a bitter fight between he and Hillary Clinton for the Democrat presidential nomination.

Much of the street had quickly become overrun by the candidate’s entourage, Secret Service, media and onlookers who flocked to the area as word spread of the unannounced visit.

Several people including Konecny said they believe Obama’s visit swayed opinions on that day, helping propel the first African American into the White House.

But four years later, the fanfare has faded and opinions in the neighborhood on Obama’s attempt to resurrect the economy appear to be divided much like the rest of the country.

Konecny remembers she and her husband, Mike, and a niece made small talk with the Obama girls as well as Michelle Obama, and eventually the U.S. Senator from Illinois. The two families posed for a photo that Konecny later had framed.

On Thursday, her two young boys — both born since Obama took office — finished off drinks and fries from Chick-Fil-A while she looked back at the day a future president came calling.

Obama, who visited Elkhart several times during the campaign, chose the economically hard hit neighborhood as a way to espouse his plans to jump start the economy.

“He knew we were struggling. Our economy was so bad at that time,” Konecny said. “Most candidates wouldn’t do that. I wouldn’t have seen Hillary do that.”

But times are still tough for this working class neighborhood. Of the six homes candidate Obama visited, two south of Konecny’s home are now vacant and neighbors say at least one fell into foreclosure.

A few houses on Bank Street have for sale signs while others sit empty.

Konecny admits the neighborhood continues to struggle, but doesn’t think President Obama is to blame.

“I’m happy with what he’s done,” Konecny said as an ice cream truck shrieked repetitive music and ambled down the street. “I think he’s done the best he could do to help the country.”

Konecny said she will likely vote again for Obama.

Down the street, Jeff Heathman had a huge change of heart in the past four years.

Heathman’s family lives further north on Bank Street and they were able to collect autographs from candidate Obama on that sunny day in May.

“I thought it was actually pretty cool,” Heathman recalls. “I thought he was an honest guy who meant what he was saying.”

He said he voted for Obama — the first time he ever voted for a Democrat for president.

But things have changed dramatically for Heathman, an unemployed computer technician and father of four who is now studying engineering full time.

These days, a weathered campaign sign for Richard Mourdock, an arch conservative who is running for U.S. Senate, sits in Heathman’s front yard.

The family is preparing to move and the location depending possibly on where his wife is promoted with her current employer, he said.

He doesn’t like new business regulations and thinks the president has trampled on numerous Constitutional rights.

“I don’t like the direction the country is headed in at all,” Heathman said.

While the local unemployment rate has been cut in half, he said many of the people he knows who have found new jobs are working for much less money.

He thinks Obama’s economic approach has failed.

“I truly believe the only reason Indiana has done what it’s done is because of way our governor has run the state,” Heathman said, referring to Gov. Mitch Daniels.

Heathman said he will be voting for Mitt Romney.

David and Janet Mitschelen remember looking to the south on Bank Street that day thinking the throngs of people were just part of an auction or garage sale. They didn’t learn what the commotion was until later when David’s brother called from Oklahoma after he saw a story online.

They moved into the neighborhood in 2007 and believe they were the last to arrive before the housing crisis struck. David points to a house two doors down that was originally listed at about $125,000 and sat empty for several years before it was bought for about $54,000.

Both Mitschelens believe Obama is not to blame for the slow recovery and say the lack of compromise by Republicans is part of the problem.

“I feel like the guy’s in a really tough spot,” David said. “I don’t think he’s gotten a lot of cooperation.”

“This mess didn’t happen overnight,” Judy said.

“Personally, I’m proud to live long enough to see a black person ... get into that office,” she said. “That alone has helped me be a little more prideful of our country.”

Jeanie Jacobson, who was walking her dog, Schubert, along Bank Street Thursday evening, recalled the excitement of Obama’s visit. While her three children, aged 19, 16, and 13, ventured down Bank Street to get a peek at the presidential candidate, she passed on the chance.

She describes herself as a moderate Republican and is not excited about the upcoming presidential choices, but plans to vote for Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican presidential candidate.

Jacobson has lived in the neighborhood for nine years. She said the area is transitioning toward more rentals and that homeowners need to work harder to keep things nice.

She said she doesn’t think Obama’s strategies have helped, adding dismissively, “promises are promises.”

She said she doubts he would return to Indiana or Elkhart unless the economy really started humming along.

“I don’t think he’ll come back,” Jacobson said. “That would be too much to face. I don’t think people here would be just so friendly toward him than as before because ‘Hey, you promised all that stuff and we’re still not humming.’ ”

Janine Mikel and her husband’s home on Bank Street features red, white and blue bunting and small American flags in the front yard. She said she hasn’t been paying close attention to the campaign so far.

She and her family had just returned from church when they saw the buzz of activity down the street, a day that she describes as surreal. Her husband was able to get an autograph.

Mikel said she voted for Obama instead of Sen. John McCain and found the choice to be the lesser of two evils.

She said she doesn’t expect the president will return to Bank Street or Elkhart and added, “I’d like to see him finish what he started.”