What does President Obama have to lose?

[Bluenorthwest]

4. Passive, mealy mouthed responses to agressive bullshit attacks are the definition of loserdom

You have it all backwards. Right now the message is similar to the visuals in the first Romney debate, they yell, President looks hangdog and shakes his head then announces he wants to reach out again to the Republicans, who then yell some more, lather rinse and repeat.
The public would embrace and support any attempt to end this deadly cycle. However, if you keep nodding in silence while your opponent calls you an ahole, eventually the lack of response gets read as agreement.
Inaction in the face of action is a poor choice in a two sided battle. 'Let them attack, we will just stand here and apologize to them'.