You can almost see voters nodding their heads at home: The public's faith in politicians and political institutions has been on a steep and dangerous decline for decades, because elected leaders fail to deliver.

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

In Washington, compromise has become a dirty word.

Since declaring that she would not serve in a second Obama administration, Clinton has dismissed suggestions that she will run in 2016.

Sitting in the Oval Office, beneath a painting of George Washington, with a bust of Martin Luther King Jr. over his right shoulder and a bust of Abraham Lincoln over his left shoulder, Obama told 'National Journal' that the country's economic woes are deep and endemic.

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.

In times of tumult, voters are likely to forgive a president, if not reward him, for compromises made in service of solutions.