Obama and debates

Via Jake Tapper, James Fallow asks a good question why was Sen. Obama so much weaker in the debates against Sen. Clinton than against Alan Keyes?

I honestly think the problem was that he felt constrained by the Democrat on Democrat action and truly did not want to attack someone whose positions were so close to his. Also, Hillary Clinton was so sharp, that he couldn't let his guard down. I think Sen. Obama has a history of being deferential to smart, strong women. Plus, Alan Keyes is so comically stupid...

Also, he manages to bring up what's wrong with the traditional media

We don’t watch debates to learn what someone thinks about Social Security. We watch to see how the contenders look next to their opponents, how they react when challenged, how well or poorly they come up with the words we later see in print.

"We" here meaning elite beltway types, who already "know" what the candidates think and are more concerned with "looks," "image," and "expectations."