Why do you think Obama was so flat during the first debate?

He's said he was "too polite," but obviously it went deeper than that. He was aimless, somber, and uninspired. Do you think something was physically wrong with him? Was something going on behind the scenes?? Do you think he'll turn up the heat next time?

I overheard Ann telling her footman to switch Obama's water with a her special recipe quaff.
Shut the fuck up, OP.
He will turn up the heat next time. He's been practicing every night to look like he wants to have a debate.
He just seemed entitled and snide....as if he was above it all and felt it was beneath him to even be there. Got my vote!!
www.goop.com
Weed-lagged.
His opening remarks were (paraphrasing) "I don't want to be here, it's my 20th wedding anniversary". Why should we be surprised?
More important than his wedding anniversary, hostilities between Turkey and Syria were escalating. It appeared that the debate was low on his list of priorities that night. That's understandable but damaging.
Everything not about him seems to be low on his priority list.
As the incumbent, he no longer has the underdog advantage. And if he came on strong people (okay, right-wing creeps) would be assailing him as arrogant, smarmy, smug, elitist and whatever other code-words they substitute for uppity. It seemed like tie at best to me. The way the MSM has been piling on declaring Romney the winner reminds me of that moment they all decided that Dem hopeful a few years back (Cain?) wasn't presidential material simply because he made a big, whooping kind of rallying cry at a speech. This is the MSM at its worst - not analyzing any of the debate content, just harping on the "feel" of it.
Could we give it a rest?
He actually sounded like any reasonable person speaking in public, not bored, not ill-prepared. It is simply the idea cooked up by political wonks that Romney sounded more energetic while to me he just sounded like a desperate liar.
He wasn't even remotely terrible. He got his points across and was respectful of Romney. It's just that he wasn't very animated. I listened to the debate the next day on the radio, and from just the audio, he came across as intelligent and deliberate. Romney sounded like a babbling, incoherent loon. Like others have said, the media needed to contrive a Romney comeback story in order to make this a horse race, so they latched onto this and are not letting go. Obama's got it in the bag. Given the electoral map, it'll be virtually impossible for Romney to pull this thing off.
He didn't call Rmoney's lies for an hour and a half! Epic fail.
R7, oh, shut the fuck up.
He was muzzled by somebody. It looked like he was ona leash.
Anonymous
SNL's joking explanation really looked like what President Obama was doing. His thoughts were elsewhere, shooting war in Turkey? who knows?
If he acted above it all, then that's because he IS above it all. It must be embarrassing to debate someone like Romney.
You know the damned debate is OLD NEWS. Too much attention has been given to his bad performance with very little attention given to Romney lying. Complete switch in positions and dishonesty and the news media dwells on the very stale news about Obama's debate "performance." This is bullshit. The media hype and its impact is what is sending the "Sheeple" including dumb-assed women, over to Romney. The accomplishments of the past four years, the lowering unemployment rate, the jobs number modest gains, all of it is being ignored. No one wants to talk about Romney's corrupt deals with China, or the other unsavory activities of Bain, or ROmney's tax returns and his suspicious investments. No one wants to talk about Adelson/Israel/Netanyahu and War with Iran.Or the tax benefits to Adelson if Romney's measures go thru in a GOP House. No one wants to talk about Romney's bad math on Taxes and deficit reduction, or how they will privatize Social Security and Medicare. Anyone on here who thinks that stuff will not affect them is crazy. I had to come out of pocket to assist my parents before they died. WTF will assist me? Who will give a fuck when the trade agreements and business deals Romney enacts rob us of jobs and the cuts in spending on governmet programs and deregulation of Wall Street crushes us like a fucking avalanche!
He has to stop every time Romney lies and say "that isn't true." If he did that last time, it would have been very effective.
I thought he had a hearing piece implanted in his ear, it wasn't working well, he looked out in the audience several times as if to say, "it's not working." Whatever went wrong, he bombed big time. He did not look like the leader of the so called free world. He was an embarrassment to say the least.
He hasn't seemed to be very energized at any time recently. I thought his convention speech was good by absolute standards but way below many of his prior speeches I honestly think he is suffering from depression It wouldn't be hard to see why with everything going on
He should have been laughing at Romney the way Biden laughed at Ryan. It will be interesting to see what O does next week
He's the president, he has a shit ton of things he has to worry about, but that's part of being president. I think he's right when he says he was too polite. He was trying to look presidential and he miscalculated.
r22 O is the O not Obama please remember that
Gayle
He's tired. He inherited a crappy economy, two wars, and staunch opposition in Congress. He's a nice guy, but he's not a high energy guy and the job has worn him down. It's time to give someone with more energy a chance.
I thought his speech at the convention was on the somber side as well. I'd like to think he threw the debate on purpose as part of a bigger plan but who knows.
Obama is not a good debater. Don't get your hopes up for the next two debates. Obama is good at giving soaring rhetorical speeches with people falling at his feet where he's not challenged (if you like that sort of thing). But a debate where he's on the spot, quick on his feet and a fighter. Not so much.
[quote]He's tired. He inherited a crappy economy, two wars, and staunch opposition in Congress. He's a nice guy, but he's not a high energy guy and the job has worn him down. It's time to give someone with more energy a chance. And someone will have a chance... in 2016. With so much at stake, no chance in hell should anyone vote for Romney. Debates are just theatre. It's like falling in love with a candidate with makes great speeches. None are substantive. It doesn't reflect how good or bad a President you are or will be. I'm sorry that the American people prefer theatre, but governor is about substance.
Pres. Obama seems bloodless. Which, considering that he was standing next to Mitt Romney, is saying something. Why didn’t he talk about his vision? If I had been standing there, I would have talked about the country that is possible. A country in which nobody is sleeping outside due to lack of money. A country where losing your job doesn’t mean losing your dignity. The country in which a CEO is not allowed to pay himself $40 million the same year that he fires thousands of employees. I would talk about building a country with different priorities, such as one that does not squander trillions of dollars on stupid, counterproductive, brutal wars while millions of our citizens are starving and denying themselves medical care. I would talk about the need to provide a college education to everyone who wants and qualifies for one. I would talk about the need to rebuild our infrastructure from the ground up, and talk about the lack of dignity created by this system. Even within the constructs of capitalism – the most evil, reprehensible, discriminatory economic system ever conceived – there is still space to argue for the kind of reforms that would not only make most people’s lives better, but would save the system from the inevitable collapse and or revolution to come. Once again, both standardbearers of the major political parties squander their opportunity to show that there is any way out, or that reform is possible. Maybe that is because it is not.
http://www.rall.com/rallblog/2012/10/04/my-review-of-the-first-debate
he's depressed about the fate of OWN
Ever notice what a tool Obama is. If he speaking to a black audience he turns into a thumping preacher from the black church days. If he's speaking to a white audience, he "loses" his black accent and speaks posh. What a tool
[bold]Why do you think Obama was so flat during the first debate?[/bold] He has trusted too many of the wrong people for too long as his staff. It wasn't a matter of who wins, who loses in a debate. Perception is what matters. For the president not have been properly prepared ... there's no excuse for that!
R32. Don't blame other people. The reason Obama was flat is Obama's fault. When Obama realized that Romney was being an asshole, he should have adjusted and fought back. He should have showed some backbone. Instead, he stood at the lecturn passively taking notes. What the fuck for? Idiot. Obama has thousands of people campaigning for him and donating money. His part of the bargain is to show up and be prepared. But he's too fucking arrogant and showed up unprepared.
R33, I look at Barack Obama's people. And I look at the president himself. He selected his people. President Obama and his people are accountable.
R32
[quote] He has trusted too many of the wrong people for too long as his staff. Maybe the following link from Political Wire should shut you up. Here's a short preview: [italic]"President Obama "did not take his debate preparation seriously, ignored the advice of senior aides and walked off the stage in Denver believing he had got the better of Mitt Romney," Toby Harnden reports."[/italic] The rest at the link is equally depressing.
http://politicalwire.com/archives/2012/10/09/obama_ignored_top_aides_on_debate_prep.html
Someone said in the last four years, he's used to people kissing his ass so Romney talking to him the way he did came as a shock.
I feel he was sleepwalking through this campaign and needed that kick in the ass from Romney to wake him up.
R35, You just backed up what I was saying. This is the president's fault. And his people.
R32
Previous to the debate, with the media predicting a landslide in Electoral votes for Pres. Obama, they were also reporting that Romney's big $ donors were pulling away and sending their money to Republican Candidates in state races. Local Obama campaign offices were packing up their offices and turning off the lights. After the debate Sheldon Adelson (and others) sent more big money to Romney's super pacs instead of congressional candidates, and Obama supporters "woke the fuck up" and got back to work. You know Obama gets pissed off when they don't find good basketball players to challenge him when they play pick-up games at the White House. Hmm... This is my conspiracy theory, and I like it. Now go make some calls and knock on some doors for President Obama.
"Ever notice what a tool Obama is. If he speaking to a black audience he turns into a thumping preacher from the black church days. If he's speaking to a white audience, he "loses" his black accent and speaks posh. What a tool" Don't be silly. Every single human being speaks differently to a different audience.
How how is it to memorize a handful of soundbites about how evil Romney and Bain are? Or how about how badly Romney was as governor? Or give example after example of Romney flip-flopping on everything? If that debate was part of a bigger strategy then the rest of it better be damn good and full of "gotcha" moments for Romney.
R41, the problem is Obama's circle. When David Plough was asked why Obama didn't bring up the 47% comment, Plough's response was that 100% of Americans already knew about it. They give Americans too much credit when it comes to what they know.
Apparently the original source of the article at R35's link is The Daily Mail, so it's entirely possible it's pure fiction.
Obama is not quick on his feet. He planned to confront Romney on his most recently stated positions. When Romey switched positions, Obama was lost.