Still, it’s worth noting this moment. And that’s because it speaks to Obama’s unique and long-lasting commitment to not playing by a core rule of modern politics: making at least some decisions based on “how it looks” and/or “how it will play.”

Obama has long been a rejectionist on this front. His stubborn refusal to rebut claims regarding what was in the Affordable Care Act badly hamstrung his party’s attempt to win the fight for public perception on the law. His unwillingness to say the words “radical Islamic terror” have become a hobbyhorse for conservatives and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. And so on and so forth…

That’s why Obama won’t break off his vacation in Martha’s Vineyard — or stop playing golf on said vacation — to travel to Louisiana. Because he believes he can monitor the situation as well — or better — from where he is. And that the sole reason to go to Louisiana is for the theatrical piece of politics, a piece that he not only rejects but detests.