As the first Presidential debate approaches on Wednesday in Denver, the Obama campaign is dispatching its minions (yes, we’re talking about you, Allison Sherry) to manage expectations of his debate performance.

Here’s the blog post liberal apologist Denver Post reporter Allison Sherry wrote late last week:

Unfortunately, there’s just a few problems with this train of thought.  President Obama has been in the job for nearly four years now.  If he cannot adequately defend his job performance, that’s less a “debate prep” issue and more of a “failed policies” issue.  Isn’t he supposed to be the greatest teleprompter reader orator of all time?  Surely, he can defend the positions he’s taken on a bevy of issues because he’s lived through the decision-making process, right?  Right…?

Further, Obama spokesperson (whose quotes comprised the majority of the Sherry piece) had this to say about Obama’s prep time:

“The president will have some time to prepare and he’s been doing some studying, but it is certainly less than we have anticipated because of events in the Middle East, because of his busy travel schedule — because of just the constraints of governing,” said Obama campaign spokeswoman Jen Psaki, who was traveling to Virginia, according to pool reports. “So it is less than we originally planned.”

Cry us a river.  Every candidate has a busy travel schedule, and surely Obama’s power of incumbency can outweigh the “constraints of governing”.  (Conventional wisdom typically suggests that incumbents have a special advantage over challengers in terms of fundraising, voter visibility,  and the public resources incumbents often leverage for campaigning.)

Of course, if Obama finds governing to be “constraining” to his campaigning, we’re sure there are many jobs out there that wouldn’t cramp his style….

Notably, Obama’s spokesperson cites the crisis in the Middle East as taking away from his debate prep time. Psaki might have forgotten that the Middle East crisis is one of her boss’s own making.  In fact, a recent mini-documentary, “Perilous Times” suggests that Obama’s weak stance in the Middle East has emboldened our enemies abroad and made them less likely to compromise.

The film interviewed seven Middle East experts, including Itamar Marcus, of the Palestinian Media Watch, who noted:

“President Obama’s speech [in Egypt calling for a friendlier approach to relations with the Middle East] was taken with trememndous support by the Palestinian Authority and was probably the most damaging statements that has ever been said by an American president with regard to peace.”

So, again, forgive us if we’re not feeling particularly sympathetic regarding President Obama’s debate prep “dilemma”.  It’s time for him to own up to his failed policies and understand the great responsibility of the U.S. presidency.