One week ago today, the White House let it be known that presidential politics was the last thing on Barack Obama’s mind. Agence France Presse reported on how Obama hardly even knew about Mitt Romney’s entry into the race on the Republican side, according to Jay Carney, who insisted that the subject never came up in briefings because Obama was just so darned busy working on the really important stuff:

The White House said Thursday that President Barack Obama was barely paying attention to the Republican race to unseat him in 2012, as a possible foe Mitt Romney threw his hat into the ring.

But it did mount a detailed defense of Obama’s economic record, as Romney warned that the Democrat carried into office in 2008 amid souring hopes for change, he had “failed America” and made the recession longer and worse.

Asked whether Obama was beginning to eye the accelerating 2012 race, as aides built his own campaign machinery, White House spokesman Jay Carney suggested it was not yet time for election talk.

“When we’re traveling and (we) spend a lot of time talking with him about different subjects, he is not focused on that,” Carney said.

Jim Geraghty was almost convinced of the argument, except that he had read an Associated Press report the day before on exactly what was getting Obama’s focus:

Obama is expected to headline fundraisers in Miami, Washington, D.C., New York and Philadelphia before the end of the fundraising quarter on June 30, people familiar with the events said. First lady Michele Obama is expected to hold fundraisers in California in June, they said.

Obama launched his re-election campaign in April and has headlined several fundraisers around the country, with some of the proceeds divided between the Democratic National Committee and his re-election campaign.

He’s doing four fundraisers in June for his presidential election bid, but he’s not focused on it?  Do they plan to make Obama fundraisers into surprise parties?  How about the eighteen fundraisers he already attended between April 4 and May 23?  In case you’re wondering, that’s close to three per week, which is an awful lot of partying for the unfocused.

Jim gives Obama the benefit of the doubt:

The contradiction here is probably just a matter of the left hand not knowing what the further-left hand is doing.

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!