Yes, I know that the airwaves are full of videos of "smackdown" moments by the president. But the president had a softball lobbed across the plate on one question, and he missed blasting it far over the wall for an easy, Ruthian grand slam home run.

Despite the praise being heaped on the president for not sleepwalking through the debate last night, one thing was -- yet again -- conspicuously absent: A single reference to his stimulus program, the most significant economic legislation of the last 50 years.

President Barack Obama is not an angry man -- black, mixed, or purple -- unless he feels his intelligence and leadership is being taken for granted. What would happen if he loosed it?

Forty-nine percent of respondents believe Joe Biden won last week's vice presidential debate, compared to Paul Ryan's 27 percent. Twenty percent believe neither candidate won the debate.

Mr. President, this is a grand performance that means something; it is much more than a policy debate where most people won't understand or remember the fine details of the policies. We need you to show America what real moral leadership is.

The president should make clear that our exceptionalism is not how wealthy the few become, but how much prosperity is created and shared by the many, and the fairness and justice and decency we stand for.

Mr. President, when you walk on stage in the next debate I would like to hear you say that the choice is not just about whose tax plan you like or who has the better health care strategy. It's much more fundamental than that. This is a choice about our national character.