…is worth a thousand grimaces:
Barack Obama is tired of being President. I’m not sure he ever enjoyed it. That is what he brought to the debate last night, and that is why he lost.
I noted that in comments a few minutes ago.
[Update a few minutes later]
I wonder if both candidates’ demeanor were partially affected by internal campaign polls? Romney looked very confident, and Obama very depressed.
I wonder what was going on in her head. Was it like, “Come near me, and I’ll scratch your eyes out!” or was it more theatrical, a la Lady McBeth? I get the feeling she was having a Lady McBeth moment, thinking about how she could wash the blood off her hands after murdering Romney! “It won’t come off! The blood won’t come off!”
I think Michelle’s angst was directed at Barry, not Mitt. Her expression says “You idiot, you’re loosing me this awesome gig! Am I going to have to pay for my next vacation myself??”
Why be president when you can make the real money on the lecture circuit.
To quote Bernadette Peters in Steve Martin’s classic, The Jerk, “It’s not losing all the money — it’s losing all the stuff.”
The Left is status-driven, and at this point in history, there is simply no higher status than POTUS or FLOTUS.
Obama was lack luster because he’s already planning for his next gig to run for president of the solar system. “What? Pssh — I’ve done enough of this crappy old boring job already. There’s no one left to throw under the bus. Time for a promotion — watch out Uranus here I come.”
I think he likes the idea of being president well enough and if the job only consisted of making soaring speeches and transforming the world through the power of his eloquence, he would like it. I don’t think he enjoys the actual day to day routine of being president. Things like meeting with Congressmen from flyover country to get legislation passed, or actually working out the details of the policies he wants, etc, didn’t have any appeal to him in the Senate and probably even less appeal now.
It’s not a stretch to imagine that Obama wants to lose. The coming years are going to be rough and call for some hard decisions, and the failures of Obama’s policies are going to become more and more disastrous. If he stays even Democrats are going to start turning on him, and he’ll bear all the blame. If he leaves he can go on the lecture circuit, hang out at Hollywood parties, and in those circles get away with blaming the Republicans for all the pain.
He didn’t go into this wanting to *be* the president. He wanted to *have been* the President. It was, after all, a step down in his decades long ascension.
He can always run for election to another term, later.
Thanks for giving me nightmares.