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President Obama had a simple goal in his first press conference in more than five months: Dont step on his own message(s).

President Barack Obama gestures during a news conference in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, March 6, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)It was clear from the get-go that Obama wanted to accomplish two things with the press conference: First, introduce a series of new housing measures designed to address the foreclosure crisis and second, hammer away at the Republican presidential candidates for their casual (his word) approach to the use of military force.

The challenge for Obama was that he faced a barrage of questions on a series of controversial topics Iran, Israel, Syria, Rush Limbaugh that had the potential to steal headlines from the presidents preferred messaging if he made any sort of news on any of those fronts.

With one possible exception Do you think a president of the United States going into re-election wants gas prices higher? Obama joked at one point in an off-key moment he largely accomplished that goal, virtually ensuring that his tough talk against the GOP candidates on foreign policy matters would be the story of the presser.

Whats said on the campaign trail....those folks dont have a lot of responsibilities, Obama said at one point. They arent commander in chief. At another, he argued: If some of these folks think its time to launch a war, they should say that.

With his rhetoric, Obama was working to make the case that while its easy to call for military action when you are running for president, its much harder to justify it when you are the president and your decision means American troops will be put in harms way.

This was another adult in the room moment for Obama in which he tries to cast himself as someone committed to getting it right while portraying his Republican opponents as interested solely in scoring political points.

(Need more evidence? This is not a game, Obama said at one point regarding foreign policy. And, he repeatedly noted he doesnt undertake the use of military force in a casual manner.)

Even as Obama was trying to make that adult case, he was dodging political pitfalls left and right.

He carefully avoided reiterating his controversial remark that the 1967 boundaries of Israel would be a starting point for negotiations about Middle East peace.

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Obama press conference: Above all, do no (message) harm