Pundits: Is Pres. Obama overrated?

SALT LAKE CITY — Pres. Barack Obama said four years ago that he is not a perfect man and would not be a perfect president. He has repeated that line throughout his 2012 campaign, but as of late it seems to have taken on new meaning.

Chris Cillizza for the Washington Post writes that with Obama's troubling debate performance Wednesday may have focused new attention on the phrase, as Obama's utterance of it in his closing remarks sounded more like an excuse than an explanation.

The question raised is whether Obama is overrated as a candidate, Cillizza says.

Four years ago, that question would have been unimaginable," Cillizza wrote. "And yet, even in that campaign, there was some evidence that candidate Obama had flaws," including that Obama's performance, while stronger than that of Republican candidate John McCain, was nothing astounding.

Cillizza highlights the differences between the Obama of four years ago and the Obama today. Obama, the most talented speaker currently in politics, was flat and kind of messy at the Democratic National Convention, according to Cillizza. His debate performance was moody and, when it came down to it, just not that great.

The Post article gives two reasons for the change in behavior on Obama's part: he's a terrible faker, unable to pretend to be happy when he isn't, and he's a pragmatist who relies on analysis instead of gut instinct. Both of those, Cillizza says, make Obama's "I'm not perfect" line more true than most people realize.

Other political news:

• GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney has seen a post-debate bump in the polls, tying with Obama in the days after the debate. Obama had a five-point lead in the days leading up to the debate. Gallup also found that Romney won the debate in the minds of voters by historic margins. Of debate watchers, 72 percent thought Romney did a better job, compared to 20 percent who thought Obama did a better job. The largest prior margin was Bill Clinton's 42-points over George H.W. Bush in 1992.
• The Obama campaign raised $181 million in September, a record-breaking sum, according to Politico.
• Republicans are distancing themselves from Arkansas state representatives who said slavery was a "blessing in disguise." The claims were made in books written by Rep. Jon Hubbard and House candidate Charlie Fuqua. State GOP chairman Doyle Webb called the books "highly offensive, and Ark. Rep. Rick Crawford called the statement "divisive and racially inflammatory," the Associated Press reports.

1. After months of hearing claims that he is too impersonal, Mitt Romney has changes tacts and is making direct emotional appeals to voters, Politico reports. Romney devoted more time than usual this weekend during stump speeches in Florida to telling revealing and personal stories that he has shied away from in the past.
2. The Canadian government is hgihlighting the War of 1812 as the bicentennial of the war approaches, and the U.S. is being called the villain, according to The New York Times. The Times reports that a new emphasis has been put on the war, to the delight of some, but the chagrin of others. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper set aside $28 million for events commemorating the war, which was fought on no-Canadian soil between Americans and British. "Two hundred years ago, the United States invaded our territory," a new ad says. "But we defended our land; we stood side by side and won the fight for Canada." The ad in part seems to be revisionist history; Canada was not yet a country at the time of the invasion, and the U.S. had been reacting to British interference with American trade and American suspicions about future British intentions in North America. Both the cause and the outcome of the war are matters of debate among historians.

Related topics