“I didn’t say that” is the new “You didn’t build that.”

On the heels of a new ad, which attempts to clarify his now infamous remarks about business and success, Politico reports President Obama vented about attacks at a Seattle fund raiser:

“I have to tell you, I generally have patience with what the other side says about me, that’s a requirement of this job,” Obama said during a $5,000-per-plate fundraiser here, according to the pool report.

“And if you don’t like folks talking about you, you probably shouldn’t run for president. The one thing I do have no patience for is this argument that somehow what I’m criticizing is success… I want to promote success,” Obama said.

He touted the story of Costco founder Jim Sinegal, host of the event, to reiterate that he totes hearts success:

“[W]hat I know is that Jim’s story, my story, the story of so many of you, our success was made possible in this country because our parents, our grandparents our great grandparents, stretching all the way back to the founders, they had a vision that says, you know what, insists on hard work and individual initiative,” Obama said.

“We’re going to reward risk and entrepreneurship. People are going to have to sweat and sacrifice for their success. But there are some things that we’re also going to do together to make sure that everyone has success. Not everyone’s going to succeed, but everyone’s going to have a shot at success,” the president said.

Once again, even leaving the “you didn’t build that” quote aside, is this passage a celebration of success? Is it a pledge to stand behind entrepreneurs?

There are a lot of wealthy, successful Americans who agree with me — because they want to give something back. They know they didn’t — look, if you’ve been successful, you didn’t get there on your own. You didn’t get there on your own. I’m always struck by people who think, well, it must be because I was just so smart. There are a lot of smart people out there. It must be because I worked harder than everybody else. Let me tell you something — there are a whole bunch of hardworking people out there. (Applause.)

If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges.

He wishes he hadn’t said it, but he did, and it’s a casual dismissal of what it takes to succeed mixed with a sense of entitlement to what entrepreneurs create, along with a tsk-tsk implication that they give nothing back despite the fact that they pay taxes. Gee, I wonder why everyone heard it wrong.

Allahpundit wondered last night if Obama ’08 ever directly answered a line of attack in an ad like this. I wonder why, if he’s going to respond with these ads in 2012, he doesn’t launch them earlier or not at all.

Obama made his “you didn’t build that” comments on July 15 (Correction: July 13). He released a response ad 11 days later. He uttered his last major gaffe— “The private sector is doing fine.”— on June 8. His response ad came out June 25.

In both instances, the gap allowed Republicans to launch several ads without much competition for cementing the public’s impression of the statement, then Obama swooped in to give new life to the story when it might have been on the verge of dying down. Seems odd, doesn’t it, from the genius crew of Obama ’08?

Old and busted: rapid response. New hotness: two-weeks-later response.

Then, there’s this. HAHAHAHA!

Now, everyone whistle along: