Mr. Obama, in a Tuesday interview with CNN, said he would wait until the Republican party had rallied around a candidate before expending much mental energy on the matter.
"I'll let them winnow it down a little bit," he said, of Republicans. "When they decide who they want their standard bearer to be then I'll be ready for them."
Mr. Obama also dismissed criticism lobbed at him on Monday by Texas Governor Rick Perry, who announced his candidacy last weekend, noting that "he's only been at it for a few days now."
"Mr. Perry just got in the presidential race," Mr. Obama said, when asked about comments Perry made suggesting that the president wasn't fit to lead the nation's military because he had never served in it. "I think that everybody who runs for president, it probably takes them a little bit of time before they start realizing that this isn't like running for governor or running for Senate or running for Congress - and you've got to be a little more careful about what you say.
In getting his campaign for the White House under way, Perry has spoken of wanting a president who loves America, and yesterday he said it would be "almost treasonous" for Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke to allow any additional monetary stimulus before the election.
In an interview with CNN, Obama was asked whether Perry was disrespectful in another comment he made at an Iowa Republican dinner on Aug. 14 where he said members of the military want a commander in chief who has served in the armed forces.
As a presidential candidate, "you've got to be a little more careful about what you say," Obama said in the CNN interview. "But I'll cut him some slack. He's only been at it for a few days now."
Obama said he hasn't been giving the candidates running for the Republican presidential nomination "too much thought."
"I'll let them winnow it down a little bit, at least let them decide who they want their standard-bearer to be," Obama said. "Then I'll be ready for them.
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