The president has already made clear that he is well acquainted with Mr. Romney’s views. At a news conference this week, Mr. Obama urged people to “take a look” at his opponent. He reprised a comment by Mr. Romney in 2007 when he said he would not invade a country to capture or kill Osama bin Laden.

“I said that I’d go after Bin Laden if we had a clear shot at him,” Mr. Obama said, “and I did.”

If running for president the first time is a full-time job, running for re-election is a bit like moonlighting. For all the planning that Mr. Obama’s team employs, uncertainties like the jobs report on Friday mornings often end up driving the election.

Even so, some presidents are more political than others. Mr. Obama is intensely competitive, but far from obsessive about politics in the way that former President Bill Clinton is. Mr. Obama’s approach is closer to that of former President George W. Bush, who assumed a bird’s-eye view of his re-election bid.

In a contest increasingly guided by factors beyond the direct control of either candidate, Mr. Obama has gradually increased the attention he has devoted to the race. Yet aides say he still spends far more time on his iPad checking scores on ESPN than obsessively reading up on Mr. Romney, or digging into the weeds of his own polls or campaign metrics.

The Sunday meeting, which participants have sworn to keep secret, was devised by his advisers to help Mr. Obama begin focusing on his re-election bid. The time is intentionally carved out to discuss big-picture themes that the president will use to challenge Mr. Romney.

“They have a candidate now, and the president is certainly paying more attention to that candidate, his arguments and his record and approach,” said Mr. Axelrod, a senior adviser, whose cellphone rings with increasing frequency, with the president on the line hoping to talk about the campaign. “He’s homing in on the race, but unlike the other guy, he has a day job, and that is still where the bulk of his attention has to be.”

Mr. Obama has told associates that he is aware of the precariousness of the political environment for him. He asks aides about his campaign message. He craves the bullet-point summaries of polls, but he does not delve into the fine print of surveys or other campaign research.