the man he is, not the man you want him to be

I was in California doing this last week and we were in technical rehearsals on Wednesday, so we missed the debates.

Caught some of it later and of course read the breathless, astonished, "o the humanity" coverage.  The  President stumbled.  How could he stand there and not hammer away with that righteous hammer of Truth and Righteousness he keeps in his tool belt?  Why didn't he just blast the Plutocrat Cyborg with the Laser Beam of Populist Outrage and Honesty that he can summon at will?

Yeah.  Weird.

Instead, he stood there and, ah, argued his side reasonably.  And didn't attack.  If it were a prize fight, he would have won on points only because you have to beat the champ, he doesn't have to beat you.  But the ref would have been unhappy and been on him for just wrapping Romney up every time, every exchange.  Crowd would have been standing, booing and throwing things, shouting,

"Hit him!  Throw a punch!"

President Obama is a moderate.  And maybe the most cautious, thoughtful and in-his-head man to hold the office since James Earl Carter.  Yeah, I said it.  Go wild you fine, hungry Republicans looking for anything that may turn the tide this late in the day. 

Do you honestly believe that Axelrod or Plouffe or anyone behind the scenes would let him swing and try to knock Romney out?  Do you honestly think that the President would throw caution to the wind and risk making a mistake, or saying something that could be twisted into a gaffe?

He's a whip-smart, disciplined politician with maybe the best organization in modern political history behind him.  These are the guys who beat Hillary Clinton and then John McCain.  With an untested black guy.  Come on.  He's on script and the script says "Keep your head down, let the guy pound on you, absorb the blows, wait for the bell."

He's got my vote and I love the guy, but he's not who you want him to be.  I wrote awhile back that he's the President least inclined to screw the poor and that's why we all need to make sure he gets re-elected, but let's not forget how low that bar is. 

He ain't King or Gandhi or Mandela. 

None of those three would have made it out of the primaries four years ago.