Obama did a fundraiser in California at the home of billionaire oil heir Gordon Getty; then he went to see the oil in the Gulf

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The administration's errors in dealing with the spill fall into two categories. The first involves confidence; the second, judgment.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's rote response that the administration has kept its "boot on the neck" of BP belies reality. It was only on Thursday that the government was able to estimate the actual spill flow – anywhere from 12,000 to 19,000 barrels of oil a day – after BP insisted for weeks that it hovered around 5,000 barrels.

On Thursday afternoon, Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, the man Mr. Obama put in charge of the spill response effort, appeared on U.S. networks affirming that BP's "top kill" attempt to cap the leak was proceeding as planned. Only later was it disclosed that BP had, in fact, suspended the operation the night before. (It has since resumed.)

The White House displayed characteristic tone-deafness in allowing Mr. Obama to headline a trio of high-priced fundraisers in California on Tuesday, including one at the home of billionaire oil heir Gordon Getty. It was only after it took flak for that trip that the White House hastily organized another to the Gulf.

Republicans have not let this opportunity pass. The party's senatorial committee has produced a video juxtaposing candidate Obama's criticism of the Bush administration's handling of the aftermath to Hurricane Katrina – in which Mr. Obama decries Mr. Bush's "half-hearted leadership" and vows "never again" – against this administration's own foibles.

But it is the disavowal of the President by his own "friends" that has been most devastating. Former Clinton aide James Carville's irate outbursts have been running in a loop on cable news: "It just looks like he's not involved in this. Man, you've got to get down here and take control of this. … We're about to die down here."