This is the OOTD I wanted to write all last week, but couldn’t believe that Barack Obama would actually blow such an easy opportunity.  From a week ago today, Democrats like Debbie Wasserman Schultz openly criticized Republicans for holding a long-planned convention as Hurricane Isaac first looked to hit Tampa, and then Mississippi and Louisiana.  A Yahoo news bureau chief got fired after an open mic picked up his accusation that Mitt Romney and the GOP were happy to party while black people drowned.

And yet, Obama himself seemed oddly disconnected from the event, even though it would have provided a perfect tableau for him to demonstrate his leadership.  He refused to act on Bobby Jindal’s repeated request for full emergency status.  Instead of going to Louisiana and Mississippi to take charge or at least get a ground-level look at the issues (and be seen doing so), or at the very least stay in the White House to oversee federal-state coordination, Obama went to Virginia to campaign — at the same time the chair of his own party was criticizing Republicans who have nothing to do with emergency management in the area for holding a political event.

Still, I thought that Obama would take advantage of his opportunity at some point to look Presidential as Romney and other Republicans campaigned in Tampa.  Instead, Obama spent the entire week asleep at the switch — and only woke up when Romney got to Louisiana first and forced his hand:

President Barack Obama was today forced to announce he will fly to storm-hit Louisiana on Monday – hours after Mitt Romney beat him to the punch by deciding to head there this afternoon.

Not only did Obama not get to Louisiana first, but he still had a campaign stop in Ohio on his schedule that had to get canceled after a full week of preparation:

After it emerged that Obama was still taking time to fit in a campaign stop in Cleveland, Ohio before checking out how clean-up operations are proceeding in the Bayou state, the Obama campaign abruptly cancelled that event.

‘In light of the President’s travel to Louisiana to meet with local officials and view ongoing response and recovery efforts to Hurricane Isaac, President Obama will no longer travel to Cleveland, Ohio on Monday, September 3,’ the campaign said in a terse statement.

Perhaps nothing else demonstrates the Empty Chair Presidency as a chief executive than this whiff on a softball pitch.  And since this is Empty Chair Day at Breitbart and at the Boss Emeritus’ page, why not make this today’s OOTD?

It’s time once again to show our support for Day By Day and its artist-publisher, Chris Muir.  Chris holds an annual fundraiser to keep the adventures of Sam, Zed, Jan, and Damon coming.  Chris, whose artwork has enhanced the OOTD feature since its inception for Hot Air readers, uses the funds raised for only the continuance of DBD.  As always, the fundraiser has many fabulous gifts available at whatever level one chooses to donate.  If you’re thinking about donating at the Jan/Damon level or above, you’ll get a Last Supper Red vs Blue magnet, which has depictions of personalities from New Media — myself included.  Donating at the Anatoly Level will get you a 9×15 print of the artwork.  Dig deep and be part of supporting the one of the best New Media cartoonists in the biz!

And if you want something really cool …

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.