Mr. Obama After Round One

 If Michael Lewis's portrait of Barack Obama tells us anything true, it is that the man is a competitor, but he is cautious and waits for his shot. 

The difference between a debate and a wrestling match, a hockey game, a basketball game, is that in those sports there is a score being kept, but with a debate, it's all perception, and perceptions can change and can be spun.

The New York Times tells us Mr. Obama performed anemically and Mr. Romney was robust. That certainly was the superficial impression I had. I thought the debate would probably read better than it looked and sounded, and it did. Obama scored debater's points but his voice and postures struck me as hang dog.

It is frustrating to watch. For years, I watched a son wrestle with the same sort of frustration. He was under muscled and seemed to spend every match trying not to get pinned and to avoid mistakes. Lacking power, he concentrated on the crisp execution of moves, with some success, some failures.  When he finally bulked up, late in his career, he had all the habits and skills of an athlete who had to win on skill, but now he  combined skill with enough power to make him a formidable opponent.  

That was a process which took years; Mr. Obama does not have years until the next debate.

Michael Lewis describes Mr. Obama playing basketball against  opponents  much more physically powerful than he is: Obama floats  around the periphery, waiting for his shot, and, when he works himself open, he drains the shot. He has a great three point shot, but he doesn't press or drive or try to power past people. Not his strength.

The problem is, Mr. Romney is going to crowd him and not give him the three point shot. Mr. Obama has to change his style, if he is not going to be blown off the floor.