Romney’s bounce is here:

Still, as I wrote yesterday, my guess is that the forecast model is still being somewhat too conservative about accounting for the change in the environment. In a good number of the polls, Mr. Romney has not only improved his own standing but also taken voters away from Mr. Obama’s column, suggesting that he has peeled off some of Mr. Obama’s softer support in addition to gaining ground among undecided voters.

source: Oct. 6: Romney Maintains Poll Momentum – NYTimes.com.

As significant as that is, that may be all.

Sullivan is calling Obama Al Gore and he’s never seen this before. Al Gore is saying Obama wasn’t used to that high an altitude. Taibbi says they both lost. Obama is being knocked because even those his closing argument was that he would fight for the American people, he didn’t fight for his record or plan:

“The president seemed under-energized, and in particular, he didn’t really go on attack mode, and we were looking, we the faithful, who worked very hard for him four years ago, for that,” he said.

Carol Doeppers, his wife, and a former state chair for Common Cause, said she “missed [Obama’s] fire in the belly.”

“There wasn’t that fire, and Mitt had it,” she said. “We can only hope that he gets the real aggressive force behind him again. But last night was a down night.”

In the end, if one takes into account Reagan’s rebound after tanking the 1st debate against Mondalein 1984, Obama’s debate improvements in 2008 and David Axelrod’s signalling of a debate strategy change, it’s not time to panic. Decathlon, not a horse race. There’s time to adjust.