I think Obama is way better on the campaign trail with ordinary people than he is in something like that Press Conference. He is relaxed and smart. Put him in a formal situation and he does "professor" far better than he does "I'm angry on your behalf". The bliss is to hear a thoughtful adult at work.

But he is making a lot of really elementary mistakes. This 4 million jobs thing is a complete crock -- a typical professorial mistake. No one can predict 4 million anything, it is just a number that the Republicans are going to beat him over the head with in 4 years or 2. He has to stop these specific predictions, they are going to be completely wrong.   What he needs to be specific about is what he is going to do, not what the exact results are going to be. He has started to move in that direction, but it is not a confidence builder.

And his role in the judicial secrecy issue is a complete disaster: more Bush.

yours,

Peter T.