If I ever become president, I could never keep myself from saying off-the-cuff lines that could be misinterpreted. My strategy would be to make sure that I said something outrageous at every public appearance. That way, people will just start saying "That's president O.M.I.W, spouting off again." Eventually, the press will get tired of covering it.
That's a good point, and is why the Pres sometimes sounds so damn milquetoast when we all know he isn't. But it seems like as he's grown into the job he's learned how the world hangs on every word he utters into a microphone, trying to screw him on it.