Following the conventions, the president's re-election campaign appears more energised, though neither camp has caused much of a ripple in the immovable surveys for months now.

At this point four years ago, McCain was surging on the back of a dazzling debut by Sarah Palin. It didn't last, of course.

The 2012 race is still close. Obama has an edge in the crucial swing states of Ohio and Virginia, while Romney has made up ground in Florida. Romney can outspend Obama now and is launching new ads in eight states, though interestingly Wisconsin and Michigan aren't included.

Those states had been on the original Romney wish list, but the path to the White House is narrowing. His advantage in the money stakes may also be less than it appears - the amount of airtime that can be bought in the key battlegrounds isn't limitless.

Besides, voters are already crying for mercy.

It's what Mitt Romney didn't do when Democrats were getting fired up at their Charlotte convention that tells us what really matters now in this race.

He hardly made any public appearances. Instead, he holed up at a friend's Vermont mansion and honed his debating skills. Ohio Republican senator Rob Portman channelled the president. He must be good at it; he reportedly played the same role for John McCain.

Unless outside events intervene, if the former Massachusetts governor is to break through and change the narrative of this race, the televised presidential debates in October now loom as his best and perhaps last chance.