SHARE Thursday's Events President Barack Obama's speech: 6 p.m. Central Kickoff of NFL season opener featuring Packers: 7:30 p.m. Central

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Washington - The White House on Thursday characterized the flap over the timing of President Barack Obama's address to Congress next week as a "sideshow" and not what people care about.

Spokesman Jay Carney said the American people "don't give a lick" about when Obama speaks but do care about what he says. He said the issue confronting Congress, Obama and the nation is the need to improve the economy and create jobs.

But the speech's timing - 6 p.m. Central on Thursday - has created a buzz because it is on the same night as the National Football League's season-opening game in Green Bay featuring the Packers and the New Orleans Saints, at 7:30 p.m. Central.

While the timing of Obama's speech averts a conflict with the kickoff of the game, left unresolved is how NBC, which is carrying the game, will handle the pregame festivities, which include a concert and activities in Green Bay.

The timing of the address, which has long been touted as Obama's opportunity to describe his economic agenda, stemmed from a daylong brouhaha Wednesday between Obama and House Speaker John Boehner.

Obama had requested that Congress convene a joint session Wednesday, Sept. 7, so he could deliver the speech. Boehner (R-Ohio) balked and suggested the next night instead. After negotiations, Obama took Boehner's counteroffer.

The Wednesday date would have conflicted with a debate between Republican presidential candidates at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif.

The dispute between the White House and Boehner touched off angry sniping and recriminations Thursday and raised doubt over whether Obama can forge the political consensus that he needs to jump-start the economy.

More importantly, perhaps, it raised questions about how Washington can help solve the nation's myriad problems if it can't even schedule a speech without sparking a clash between two branches of government.

By agreeing to Boehner's request to postpone his jobs speech, Obama may have placated Republicans who were furious that he threatened to eclipse the debate. But the scheduling dispute has overshadowed Obama's speech for now and suggests his aides badly misjudged the president's bully pulpit or misplayed their hand.

This wasn't the start to the new political season that Obama had envisioned. He had voiced hope that lawmakers would return from their summer recess scared straight by voters who are frustrated by political deadlock in Washington and eager to see a semblance of cooperation.

Instead, both sides took more potshots Thursday.

"They messed this up; that's obvious," a senior White House official said of Boehner's office. The official said Boehner didn't object when the White House asked for a Wednesday speech. "We said we're going to do it, and he said OK," the official said.

Not so, a Boehner aide said. When William Daley, the White House chief of staff, called Boehner on Wednesday morning about the speech, "nothing the speaker said gave that impression" that he would meet the president's request, the aide said.

Congressional Republicans expressed disbelief and some amusement at what they saw as a spectacular misstep. "If he would have called and asked before he leaked the letter (of the Wednesday request), he would have had a date and time and no one would have thought about it," said a GOP Senate leadership aide. "It's not a Machiavellian plan on our part; we're not that clever. But this was an unnecessary thing, this was an unforced error."

Whoever is to blame, the episode is a distraction for a White House that is desperate to focus on jobs. Rather than discussing the best way to put people back to work, the White House is fending off questions about who messed up scheduling a speech.

The episode has angered some in the West Wing.

"No one comes out of this looking particularly good," said William Galston, who was policy adviser to President Bill Clinton. "To the extent the American people are paying attention, it just adds to the general perception of a dysfunctional political system focused on partisan infighting rather than the nation's problems."

As he steps up his campaign for re-election in 2012, Obama will argue that recalcitrant Republicans are chiefly to blame for the gridlock in Washington. He has little choice: Opinion polls show his leadership ratings are plummeting.

In some ways, the Republican rebuff was predictable. The GOP has shown little inclination to defer to the president, even on routine matters. The time and place of budget negotiations have become melodramas, with Republicans complaining the White House summons them through the media rather than extending proper invitations.

When they feel slighted, Republicans have been quick to reject invitations. In July, when the White House floated the idea of debt-ceiling talks at the presidential retreat at Camp David, Boehner quickly and publicly declined the offer.

In this case, Daley and Boehner had a brief talk - and 90 minutes later, the White House sent out a message on Twitter that the president had requested a joint session of Congress. Such speeches normally are arranged between the White House and congressional leaders in private before any announcement is made.

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WHAT ABOUT THE PREGAME?

The White House said Thursday that President Barack Obama's planned speech to Congress to unveil his economic agenda will be delivered at 6 p.m. Central, well before Thursday's game between the Green Bay Packers and New Orleans Saints at Lambeau Field. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Central.

While Obama's speech averts a conflict with the kickoff, left unresolved is how NBC, which is carrying the game, will handle the pregame festivities. The NFL and NBC are planning a kickoff concert and other pregame activities in Green Bay to mark the opening of the NFL season.

Earlier, Greg Aiello, an NFL spokesman, said in an email: "We're preparing for the game and a big night at Lambeau Field and in Green Bay. We do not yet know NBC's plans for covering the president's speech."