Back in the days of "hope & change" and "we're the change we've been wating for," many of us asked a simple question: who is this guy Obama?

Can you find a college mate?  Can we see what courses he took in college?  Why did he vote "present" so often in the Illinois legislature?  Why all of the sensitivity about college transcripts and birth certificate?  What's he hiding?

He was the least known presidential candidate in recent memory.   

Even Jimmy Carter had been governor of Georgia and was on the cover of TIME Magazine as a new man of the South.  He has lots of friends back home willing to serve as personal references.  He had served in the U.S. Navy.  He was unknown to the nation, but there were lots of people willing to tell us about the man they knew in Plains, Georgia.  We met his classmates, his neighbors, and lots of people willing to put in a good word for their friend Jimmy!

Where are Mr. Obama's friends?  I am not talking about those convenient Hollywood acquaintances or "yes we can" screamers.  He went to Rev. Wright's church, but did he know any anybody there?  Does anybody remember seeing him?  Any college friends? 

Where are his friends, or the ones who come to your aid when you are in trouble – that is, exactly where President Obama finds himself these days?

Peggy Noonan has a post about the lonely president:

Most of his adult life has been a smooth glide. He had family challenges and an unusual childhood, but as an adult and a professional he never faced fierce, concentrated resistance. He was always magic. Life never came in and gave it to him hard on the jaw. So he really doesn’t know how to get up from the mat. He doesn’t know how to struggle to his feet and regain his balance. He only knows how to throw punches.

But you can’t punch from the mat.  

He only knows how to do what he’s doing.   

In the meantime he is killing his party. Gallup this week found that the Republicans for the first time in three years beat the Democrats on favorability, and also that respondents would rather have Congress lead the White House than the White House lead Congress.

Yes, the presidency can be a very lonely corner.  My guess is that this job is going to get even lonelier as President Obama fights ISIS and watches ObamaCare implode over the next year.

I guess this is why we've always elected people with a resume of life experiences.  It pays to have experienced a little adversity in life, whether it was losing an election or some personal crisis.  And it pays to have friends that you can rely on, who will tell you the truth about everything you're messing up!

P.S. You can hear CANTO TALK here & follow me on Twitter @ scantojr.