President Obama – Underestimate at Your Peril

It appears pundits and some of President Obama`s supporters tuned in last night to watch the President as pugilist and not as debater.  From their shrieks of disappointment in his performance, it looks like they wanted him to pummel Mitt Romney to the mat or maybe drop-kick him out of the ring. That would have been spectacular, for a minute.

Yes, President Obama was low-key and I believe it was for a very good reason. I do not think for a minute he was off his game.

Angry Black Guy, Uppity are just two derogatory terms used to describe President Obama and are all too familiar to Blacks who, in the opinion of some, dared to rise above their station in life.  It does not matter that he has reached the highest position on this planet; President Obama will always be less than in their warped, simple minds, as can be attested to in this Media Matters link.

Would his detractors have been happy to see this thoughtful president go up against the combative Romney of last night with anger and aggression?  The right would still be having conniptions. Fiery headlines would be blazing across the internet on how the angry Black man beat up on poor, ole Mitt and how dare he!.  Talking points would be spewing forth like so much puke at a party of drunks. There would be no end of clips of an angry Obama appearing in ads to further scare the fearful and fence-sitters.  The angry black man label, attached to President Obama, would have hit the stratosphere with predictable results.

President Obama did not get to where he is by being reckless and stupid; he is a thinker; he is logical; he plays the long game. I believe he allowed Mitt Romney to win this debate (and the pundits to lose their collective merde) knowing Romney and the right would rejoice and spend precious time high-fiving, gloating and revisiting the embers of the debate to bask in any remaining glow. 

Meanwhile, President Obama has put himself in a position to use the remaining debates to his advantage.  Romney threw all the punches he had in this first round; let him have his moment but he has been further tagged as a flip-flopper and having a passing relationship with the truth. He defined himself before a huge audience. I am sure Mitt Romney is on a high and thinking he has President Obama on the ropes and unless he flops back from the debate flip, he has nothing more to add to the upcoming debates.

To those who wanted anger and aggression, remember, Barack Obama is the President not a street brawler. You would have been doubly disappointed if he had behaved in such a manner. To those on the right, you may wish to enjoy your pyrrhic victory and, may I suggest, if you have never heard of rope-a-dope, look it up..

Will keep you posted.