It’s a safe bet that President Obama misses the old Mitt Romney — the one who described himself as “severely conservative.”

In their first debate in Denver, Romney outflanked the president by assuming the role of Moderate Mitt, a sweet-tempered fellow we hadn’t met before. He promised he’d never reduce the share of the tax burden paid by wealthy Americans, cut federal education spending or restrict access to contraceptives. Obama seemed flummoxed that the opponent he’d expected was a no-show.