Obama does not need to worry as much as past Democratic presidents about being labeled soft on national security - not after giving the order that led to the assassination of Osama bin Laden. No, his biggest concern is being labeled tone deaf on joblessness and debt.

Anything can go wrong in a debate, and Obama is not a perfect debater.

A concrete agenda and landslide victory might not even guarantee a president his mandate in a capital as polarized as Washington.

Obama shows no sign of easing up on negativity.

Historians will likely give Obama credit for steering the country away from the brink of economic collapse in 2009.

Barack Obama won a second term but no mandate. Thanks in part to his own small-bore and brutish campaign, victory guarantees the president nothing more than the headache of building consensus in a gridlocked capital on behalf of a polarized public.

Palin seems to have forgotten that her poll ratings have plummeted since the summer of 2011.