Let's see more of the Barack Obama who showed up at the White House Correspondents' dinner last weekend. Warm and witty, he exuded bonhomie.

That Barack can win again for president, going away. He wouldn't try a cheesy campaign based — or debased — on Osama bin Laden and the family dog Bo. Or would he? Word is, the dead terrorist underlines his toughness and his Portuguese water dog shows his soft side. Oh, come on.

Freeze the frame from Saturday night. That's what we like to see in a president. Lighting up the ballroom, Barack could hold a candle to George Clooney. His remarks were zingers, the last aimed at the tarnished Secret Service — saying he had to get them home in time for their new curfew. C-SPAN got it all on tape.

I personally like a man who can laugh at the lighter side of a debacle. What's more, we Americans like to like our president. Presidents are more important to us than political leaders are to other Western democracies.

Yet Obama, the political jazz player, has played it cool since his inauguration on a frigid day. Call him cool in both senses: as in hip and, um, cold. The man has played the blues, stone cold sober, since the high noon he was sworn in.

On the job, the president is self-contained. Friends, supporters, staffers and Cabinet secretaries swim in the school of "I like him, don't love him." Sangfroid is his strong suit. To put it plainly to unemployed millions, Obama doesn't feel your pain — he processes it.

Most in 2008 recall the smokin' hot candidate whose charisma inspired euphoria from Chicago to Berlin. Curiously, the music seemed to stop in Washington. Soon, the giddiness was gone.

To be fair, President Obama inherited a grim recession and two wars from one George W. Bush. He's the Yalie president who left the country much like a trashed fraternity house. The Washington Post still scolded the new president for acting glum, however.

Obama is best seen as an introvert (not in the sense of shy). This trait made him appear aloof in the Senate, a sea of extroverts. As a freshman, Obama didn't make many friends because he did not put the time in, as junior senators do with clubby elders.

Obama had the liberal lion as his best friend in the forest — roaring Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, who died in 2009. That was the ticket up the road.

The point is, Obama had to work his A-game at April's end. He may like his own company better than crowds. Like a skilled virtuoso, experts say, he plays well with his left or right hand, solitude or society. I suspect he'd rather read — or write — a book.

For the last campaign, Obama should come a planet closer to the people. Let the Fourth Estate's spring formal be a preview. Show us sparkle and wit; go ahead, uncork the bottle, Mr. President. Sit down, and stay awhile.

In "Barack Obama: The Story," a forthcoming biography, author David Maraniss evokes Obama's reserve as a restless young man. A gifted girlfriend who kept a diary, Genevieve Cook, aptly named his "withheld-ness."

The daring SEAL raid on bin Laden speaks for itself of grace under pressure. President John F. Kennedy failed when he tried a surprise strike, in the Bay of Pigs.

Obama, a complex character, need not seek shelter behind the ruthless Saudi and a dog named Bo. He's better than that. We the people are, too.

To find out more about Jamie Stiehm, and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit www.creators.com.