PRESIDENT OBAMA  ON THE COMPAIGN

President Obama got a lift on the campaign trail today after a visit to a Florida pizza shop.

Scott Van Duzer, owner of the Big Apple Pizza, is clearly a fan of the president after he lifted him off the ground in a manly bear hug to show his appreciation.

Obama could not contain his delight as he laughed heartily with the pizza shop owner after he was finally set down on the ground in front of shocked customers and some of the President's staff.

He used his time in the all-important state of Florida to draw fresh attention to Medicare, seizing on an election-year issue that's been more favorable to Democrats.

See the video below

President Barack Obama, right, is picked-up and lifted off the ground by Scott Van Duzer as the pizza shop owner shows his appreciation in Florida

VIDEO: President Obama gets bear hugged off his feet!... 

U.S. President Barack Obama hugs Scott Van Duzer at Big Apple Pizza and Pasta Italian Restaurant in Fort Pierce, Florida, while campaigning across the state by bus

Obama could not contain his delight as he laughed heartily with the pizza shop owner in front of shocked customers and some of the President's staff

Campaigning for a second day in a state where older voters and workers approaching retirement hold sway, Obama was expected to highlight a study by a Democratic leaning group which concluded that, on average a man or woman retiring at age 65 in 2023 would have to pay $59,500 more for health care over the length of their retirement under Mitt Romney's plan.

The numbers are even higher for younger people who retire later, the study found. A person who qualifies for Medicare in 2030 - today's 48-year-old - would see an increase of $124,600 in Medicare costs over their retirement period.

While Romney's changes to Medicare would affect future retirees, the study also said the Republican presidential nominee's plan to get rid of Obama's health care law could raise health care costs in retirement by $11,000 for the average person who is 65 today by reinstating limits on prescription drug coverage.

The study was conducted by David Cutler, a Harvard professor and health policy expert who served in the Clinton administration and was Obama's top health care adviser during the 2008 presidential campaign. 

U.S. President Barack Obama makes calls to volunteers from the Obama for America Field Office in Port St Lucie, Florida

President Barack Obama greets supporters at a campaign event today as he claims Medicare will save retirees almost $60,000

Cutler conducted the study for the liberal Center for American Progress Action Fund.

Romney would seek to contain Medicare costs by giving retirees voucher-like government payments that they could use to either buy regular Medicare or private health insurance. 

But Cutler says older Americans would have to pay more out of pocket to cover the rising costs of health care.

While Obama was continuing his two-day, post-convention swing with stops in Melbourne and West Palm Beach, Romney headed to church in Boston on a day off from campaigning.

But Romney and his running mate, Wisconsin Rep Paul Ryan, were hardly out of public view, with morning interviews running on several Sunday talk shows.

Romney, who promised early in his campaign to repeal Obama's health overhaul, told NBC's Meet the Press that he would keep several important parts of the law.

'Of course there are a number of things that I like in health care reform that I'm going to put in place,' he said. 'One is to make sure that those with pre-existing conditions can get coverage.'

Vice President Joe Biden's talks to customers during a stop at Cruisers Diner today during the Florida campaign trail

Showing support: Vice president Biden gave the female biker a friendly shoulder gab during the unusual exchange

Fans of all ages: His campaigning in Ohio brought Biden face-to-face with a wide range of supporters

Romney also said he would allow young adults to keep their coverage under their parents' health-insurance.

'I say we're going to replace Obamacare. And I'm replacing it with my own plan,' Romney said. 'And even in Massachusetts when I was governor, our plan there deals with pre-existing conditions and with young people.'

Ryan, who was on the West Coast, took issue with Obama's claim that Romney and Ryan are 'new to foreign policy' and want to take the U.S. back 'to an era of blustering and blundering that cost America so dearly'.

Ryan, a congressman since 1999, said on CBS' Face the Nation that he has more foreign policy experience than Obama did before he entered the White House.

Such 'name calling is what people do when they have nothing else to offer', he said.

On the Medicare front, Obama aides believe they successfully forced Romney to temporarily drop his emphasis on the sluggish economy last month by raising the Medicare issue in the wake of Romney's selection of Ryan as his running mate.

Funny? President Barack Obama, points at Hawaiian-born Andrew Wupperman, far left, during an unscheduled stop at Gator's Dockside on Saturday in Orlando, Florida, and asked him for his birth certificate