Interesting, thank you. Confirms for me, along with the other things I've been reading since the debate what I always suspected--he doesn't like hard Q & A where questions are a surprise and debates and isn't good at it unless he practices real hard (or has recently been thinking on topic.)  No impromptu for him unless he knows what he'll be speaking on or has just been working on it. He likes to have time to think first. Hence, speeches are his preferred mode, if an interview, it is soft one-on-one and the type of questions are okayed.

The evidence is actually quite significant combined with the above article--presidential historian Martha Kumar has been watching him, tallying him, comparing his approach on this to other presidents. Now that he's been in his bubble, he has pretty much made sure he doesn't have to do hard Q & A, and is totally out of practice (Can't think of the last time I've seen a picture or video of him taking a question from a citizen he just shakes hands, and says hello, and I am recalling complaints from world leaders and Congresspersons that are applicable too..)

I can't find the first article I saw on this in the last day, which really lay out the numbers most strikingly, but here is Dana Milbank @ WaPo with similar:

Towson University political scientist Martha Kumar, who keeps a running tally of Obama’s media appearances, tells me he has had 19 solo news conferences in the White House as of Sept. 30. That compares to 26 for Ronald Reagan at the same point in his presidency, 59 for George H.W. Bush, and 31 for Bill Clinton. Obama had more formal news conferences than George W. Bush (13), but Bush engaged in many more informal Q&A sessions with reporters: 340 at this stage in his presidency to Obama’s 105. (Clinton had 585 at this point, the elder Bush had 309 and Reagan had 135.)

Obama hasn’t held a full-fledged news conference at the White House since March. After a Cabinet meeting in July, a reporter tried to ask him whether new gun laws were needed after the Colorado shooting — and Obama brushed off the inquiry with a joke.

In lieu of taking hard questions, Obama has opted for gauzy, soft-focus interviews with the likes of “Entertainment Tonight,” gentle appearances on late-night comedy shows, kid-glove satellite hits with regional TV stations, and joint appearances with the first lady where questions are certain to be gentle. Tough questions are rare in one-on-one interviews, because Obama has more control over the topic — and the interviewer wants to be invited back.

There's more here from a McClatchy reporter:

http://www.kansas.com/2012/10/04/2515289/obama-debate-stumble-might-stem...

and in the same vein from Michael Calderone at HuffPo:

http://www.kansas.com/2012/10/04/2515289/obama-debate-stumble-might-stem...

Reminds me of how when he was inaugurated people were looking forward to lots of JFK-style press conferences with witty repartee and I was thinking: I don't know, that doesn't sound quite right, not like him.. And now I realize he's really gotten a break about lack of press conferences, how many have I seen? If he was a GOP president the media would be complaining a lot more, maybe it would have been better for him now if they had..

Suffice it to say, I am pretty convinced that he's not that great at this, pretty sure of just the opposite, and I hope he is finding the time to practice. It's not just about winning, as he probably still will win, but his appearances in the next two will affect his general population support in his second term. Especially with the huge number of viewers the first one got.

Saw this on the body language at the debate this morning.  How much of it is objective observation and how much is just spnning.  FWIW:

Contrast in Body Language Defined Presidential Debate - Yahoo! News

"If you turn off the sound, you will feel or see what most Americans are feeling or seeing. If you turn the sound back on, the words get in the way of the nonverbal," Givens said. "You can't identify what the cues are."

It's this mute version of the debate that sticks with people, said Givens, director of the private, nonprofit Center for Nonverbal Studies in Spokane, Wash. "They remember body language, gestures, mannerisms and facial expressions."

Givens' overall impression matched the dominant perceptions circulating today (Oct. 4): Gov. Mitt Romney came across as aggressive, while President Barack Obama was more cerebral and cool — a difference widely perceived to have worked in the Republican challenger's favor.