Obama will find ‘something better to do’ than watch GOP debate

President Obama won’t be watching the GOP presidential candidates duke it out during Wednesday night’s debate.

“I suspect, knowing him, knowing his viewing habits, that he will not watch it,” White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters Wednesday. “He has a family at home.

“He tends to, when he watches TV at all, it’s either sports or a movie, so I don’t expect he will. But the president obviously keeps up with what’s in the news. And I’m sure he will be aware of the general back and forth of the debate come tomorrow morning.”

To date, White House aides maintain that Obama hasn’t caught any of the debates and that the president won’t be in full-on campaign mode until he has an opponent. Senior administration officials have also seemed particularly confident in recent days, scoffing at comparisons between the tight 2008 Democratic primary and this year’s GOP race.

On Wednesday, Carney told reporters that there is “ample time” for Obama to prepare for debates with his opponent between now and November.

“He’ll be prepared when that time comes, he might look at a little tape when that time comes,” Carney said. “But for now I think he’ll continue his practice of finding something better to do.”

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