Why Are the Media and Democrats Shell Shocked About Obama's "Disastrous" Debate Performance?

The Mainstream media and the Democrat Left are traumatized by Obama`s clear loss of the first presidential debate in Denver. Obama campaign operatives blame Jim Lehrer for letting the debate get out of hand.  Others use the excuse  that Obama`s famous debating skills are rusty. Both sides seem to agree that Obama played defense to protect the lead the polls are giving him. The most zealous Obama fans pulled their hair and asked "Where was Obama tonight?"

Being in Berlin, I watched the debates this morning on YouTube, immediately after reading the pundit consensus that Obama had an off night and had lost the debate. After watching the entire debate, my take was quite different. I saw the regular campaign-trail and White-House-press-conference Obama and a slightly energized Romney, not much different from his better primary debates. I would have thought that the average viewer would have called this a tie. Obama was Obama. Romney was Romney.  Obama made his usual campaign-stump points. Romney made his, although in a better prepared manner. Both Obama and Romney performed as I expected, except that Romney seemed more energized and comfortable.

If my impression that both performed up to capacity is on the mark, why the media and Democrat shell shock about Obama`s   "disastrous" performance?

The sources of the media and Democrat trauma are obvious:  The mainstream media and the Dems are firmly convinced that Obama represents the cause of truth and good, and that Romney represents dark forces  and kookiness.  In a rare moment of candor, a New York Times editor called this the elite media's  "political and cultural progressivism."  As today's Times' editorial put it: "The guy with the weaker case made the stronger statement, falsehoods and all, and that is a dangerous thing to allow so close to Election Day." The public should know better: Obama is right. Romney is wrong. Case closed.Election over.

This media template of Obama has not been tested by a primary challenge. The White House press corps treats him with the softest of gloves,  does not challenge his press representatives, complains little of the lack of press conferences, and ignores inconvenient news items  (such as the claim that our Libyan ambassador was killed by a spontaneous mob or the newly surfaced video of Obama singing the praises of Reverend Wright).