Former White House aide Reggie Love with President Obama in Fletcher, N.C., Oct 17, 2011. Susan Walsh/AP Photo

Former White House aide and Duke Blue Devils forward Reggie Love stars in a new Obama campaign video aimed at courting the president's African-American supporters.

"Since 2006, I've spent a lot of time with our president," says Love, who left the administration last year to attend business school.  "I got to work in the West Wing, I traveled to 33 countries, I've done everything from tracking down newspapers, figuring out what he wants to eat, who he's going to eat with, and played endless amounts of basketball games."

"The president has always had our back," he adds, encouraging viewers to join African-Americans for Obama, a group the campaign launched last month. "Say you're with him. I'd appreciate it and I know he would too."

Love's appeal comes as part of Obama's effort to mobilize a key constituency for what will be a demanding general election battle headed into November.

While the most recent ABC News-Washington Post poll found Obama's approval rating among blacks stands at 91 percent, frustration in the community over lingering economic woes has dampened enthusiasm and raised questions about whether turnout will be as robust as it was four years ago.

Obama won 96 percent of the black vote in 2008.  Black voters are seen as playing a particularly important role for Obama in 2012 battleground states such as Virginia and North Carolina.