WASHINGTON POST: Barack Obama, The Loner President. “Beyond the economy, the wars and the polls, President Obama has a problem: people. This president endures with little joy the small talk and back-slapping of retail politics, rarely spends more than a few minutes on a rope line, refuses to coddle even his biggest donors. His relationship with Democrats on Capitol Hill is frosty, to be generous. Personal lobbying on behalf of legislation? He prefers to leave that to Vice President Biden, an old-school political charmer. . . . Which raises an odd question: Is it possible to be America’s most popular politician and not be very good at American politics?”

UPDATE: Ed Driscoll: Barack Milhous Obama. Love the photo.