Actually, IMO, the President has always been great off-the-cuff at pressers. I remember thinking years ago that he should ad-lib all his public speaking. He shines.
I have a friend who is a diehard Dem and lives in Washington.
She said to normal people W is really hard to dislike because he is very nice and has a wicked sense of humor. She likes him and Laura as people about a zillion times more than Bill and Hillary. She wouldn't agree with him that it's Tuesday but she likes him and Laura as people.
She told me something interesting. Besides their closest staff Laura and W allowed all of Clinton's people to stay if they wanted to. (as far as office employees and such. Laura's personal secretary is someone she brought with her from Texas but a lot of the lesser people are democrats who were allowed to apply for their old jobs. Laura said "If they do their jobs and do them well they should keep them"
He certainly cleaned the floor in the debates with albore.