Re: All the Democratic handwringing about President Obama's big debate flop.

What's to say it won't happen again?

In fact, I'd argue it's more likely to happen again than not. Maybe Romney won't trounce him so thoroughly, but all the Democratic worrying seems to be tempered by confidence that Obama's going to storm back and kick Romney's butt.

I wonder.

All the Democratic worrying seems to be tempered by confidence that Obama's going to storm back and kick Romney's butt.

What I learned from that debate is this: Romney is good at debating. Obama, by the way, has never been great at it. I thought Hillary outdid him in their face-offs. And McCain, a formidable force in the '90s and early 2000s, was spent by the time he was confronted with Obama-mania.

This could go one of two ways. Obama could come back prepared and poised and score a draw against an obvioulsy talented debater. Or Romney could win again.

I'm reminded of the sports fan whose team gets whooped in the first game of a best-of-seven playoff series. In the interviews afterward, the coach says they're going to watch the tape and make adjustments. And the zealous fans buck up.

But my reaction, typically, is: Um, okay, but like, the other team is obviously way better. What adjustments are you going to make? Are you going to suddenly decide to stop Kevin Durant from scoring?

Of course, sometimes adjustments can work.

But there's a real possibility that what we saw on October 3 is what we have to work with.