In part, not entirely. What's instructive here is the emerging picture of a team that doesn't want to challenge President Obama, at all. Make no mistake, it's not uncommon for synchophantic group think to set into any administration ("Yes Mr. President, whatever you say Mr. President.") The Bay of Pigs debacle during the JFK administartion has led to academic studies of this phenomenon in that nobody in the room was willing to tell Kennedy what a stupid idea the Cuban invasion was.

But in most administrations there is usually one person(at least) close enough to the President to be honest with him about his own performance/behavior without fear of reprisal. Apparently not in this administration. For months now this week's Joe Biden/Paul Ryan debate was considered the most anticipated of the four. I'm definitey curious to see how Biden stacks up against Ryan, but the sequel to the "Rocky Mountain Smack Down" has replaced the VEEP event as the ultimate must see event of the debate season.

How will Obama resopnd? Will somebody in the room be honest with him. Does he channel that into a masterful performance or does he try to hard? We'll find out.