Carly Simon once sang, “You’re so vain … you probably think this song is about you, don’t you? Don’t you?” If you think a speech from Barack Obama is about you, you’re not vain — just sadly mistaken. Americans for Prosperity put this clip together from Obama’s January 22nd speech in Elyria, Ohio, where the topic was jobs. Or that’s what the topic was supposed to be, anyway. As AFP totes up the mentions of taxpayers, small businesses, tax cuts, and finally references to himself, take a guess at which one got 132 mentions? No, it’s not Cousin Pookie on the couch:

When taking writing courses many years ago, instructors stressed that constant self-references in essays were amateurish crutches, used by weak writers. Blogging is a more informal presentation, but even on blogs, a constant drumbeat of self-references gets annoying. When a speaker’s three favorite subjects are Me, Myself, and I, voters have to wonder if there’s any room in Barack Obama’s love affair for them.

By the way, be sure to visit AFP — it’s a great organization putting forward a solid, fiscal-conservative agenda. Keep an eye out for their next event, as they routinely have powerful presentations from leading conservative voices … and the occasional blogger who now has to avoid a self-reference at all costs.

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!