Obama kind of painted himself into a corner with his campaign rhetoric. He was a dog chasing a car and he made the mistake of actaully catching it and having to deal with the ensuing consequences.
He said on the stump and even in his post-election speeches that he would end the so-called torture, stop the warrantless wiretapping and close Guantanamo.
So far, he's reaffirmed the warrantless wiretapping and has even expanded it some instances. He hasn't even begun to close Gitmo. And, as Liz Cheney points out, he hasn't even ruled out waterboarding again in the scenario of a ticking time bomb. He probably didn't want to make this his first big debate, but he really didn't leave himself much room for anything else. So far, he's losing IMHO.
I think he's losing "big time"!
Not only that, he screwed up his positioning. Zero wanted to be able to blame Bush if we got hit again on his watch, which is why he left Gates and some other bushies in place, IMHO. Now, with his very public spew about Gitmo and "torture" and separating himself very publicly from Cheney the public will blame him for another attack. Even though, as you point out, he's continued many of the same policies! Slick Willie never played a hand this poorly.
But he's really caught. He lied to the American people and claimed to be a moderate to get elected, but in the primaries convinced the moonbats he's one of them. Whichever group he appeases, he's screwed with the other!