A flub Monday by President Obama — caught on a pesky live microphone — is likely to make “flexibility” the new campaign buzzword for Republicans dead set on reclaiming the White House this fall.
Obama was caught on an open mic in South Korea Monday telling Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to stop pressuring him on missile defense talks, saying he would have “more flexibility” to deal with the issue following his reelection this fall.
For Republicans trying to paint the president as a “campaigner-in-chief” more interested in his own political future than with governing the country, it was a godsend from abroad.
Despite a recent schedule packed with fundraisers and campaign-style events in key battleground states, Obama insists he remains focused first and foremost on the business of the nation and not on whether he’ll be allowed to keep his job.
Yet, Obama’s gaffe plays directly into the hands of Republicans already trying to portray the president as a professional politician who would pursue an even more ambitious liberal agenda of government overreach once he no longer has to worry about reelection.
“This fits the classic example of a gaffe,” said Charles Walcott, a political scientist at Virginia Tech, who focuses on the presidency. “It’s speaking the truth by mistake. The other side is going to take anything you say that wasn’t meant for public consumption and run with it.”
It didn’t take long for GOP presidential contenders to pounce on Obama.
“President Obama signaled that he’s going to cave to Russia on missile defense, but the American people have a right to know where else he plans to be ‘flexible’ in a second term,” said Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney. “President Obama needs to level with the American public about his real agenda.”
Administration officials downplayed the remarks, saying that political uncertainty in both the U.S. and Russia prevented a major advance between the former foes.
“Since 2012 is an election year in both countries, with an election and leadership transition in Russia and an election in the United States, it is clearly not a year in which we are going to achieve a breakthrough,” White House deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said.
Still, it wasn’t the first time the Obama administration has been embarrassed after being caught unaware on a live microphone.
During the G-20 summit last year in France, Obama shared his frustrations about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with French President Nicolas Sarkozy — without realizing that reporters could hear the exchange.
Sarkozy called Netanyahu a “liar,” to which Obama replied: “You’re fed up with him, but I have to deal with him even more often than you.”
Vice President Biden was once caught whispering to Obama at the signing of his health care legislation that it was a “big (expletive) deal.”
This isn’t the first White House tripped up by an open mic, but even some Obama allies said they were floored by yet another self-inflicted wound from a president known for a hyper focus on staying on message.
“Repeat after me: There is no such thing as a private moment,” a prominent Democratic strategist told The Washington Examiner. “There is always a microphone somewhere. He really should have figured this out by now.”
