One of the greatest rivalries in sports is found in college football’s bitter Ohio State-Michigan annual contest. It even has its own song for Buckeye boosters, sung to the tune of “The Old Gray Mare”:

We don’t give a damn about the whole state of Michigan,
the whole state of Michigan,
the whole state of Michigan.
We don’t give a damn about the whole state of Michigan,
We’re from O-HI-O.

Maybe Ohioans attending last week’s town hall with Barack Obama should have chanted the last line before he gave his speech:

The most embarrassing part of this moment? This wasn’t an off-the-cuff response, but straight from his prepared speech … which was on his TelePrompter:

But if we had let GM and Chrysler simply go under, hundreds of thousands of Americans would have been hurt, not just at those companies themselves, but at other auto companies and at their suppliers and dealers, here in Ohio, up in Michigan, and all across this country.

You’re in O-HI-O, champ. (thanks to Obamateurism reader Geoff A)

Got an Obamateurism of the Day? If you see a foul-up by Barack Obama, e-mail it to me at [email protected] with the quote and the link to the Obamateurism. I’ll post the best Obamateurisms on a daily basis, depending on how many I receive. Include a link to your blog, and I’ll give some link love as well. And unlike Slate, I promise to end the feature when Barack Obama leaves office.

Illustrations by Chris Muir of Day by Day. Be sure to read the adventures of Sam, Zed, Damon, and Jan every day!