In their public lives, presidents have to hone their skills at facing disaster — see “midterm elections, 1994, 2006” — but the coping skills developed by President Obama are, one may say, unique.

Piqued by the results of the midterm elections, he denies that they happened, as the feelings of the millions who voted against him and his party matter much less than those who skipped voting completely. He believes (or assumes) that they all prefer him. He may be unaware he is opening a large can of worms for future elections, as every loser can now add the numbers of stay-at-homes to his own totals and then make the claim that he won. (On these lines, Mr. President, Mitt Romney has added the stay-at-homes to his 2012 numbers, and would like you to vacate his house.)