McCain jabbed the president for failing to explicitly take 'responsibility.' | REUTERS GOP seizes Obama 'optimal' moment

Republicans on Friday pounced on President Barack Obama for saying that the deaths of four Americans in Benghazi were not “optimal” -the latest instance of a candidate’s choice of words becoming an issue in the race - while Paul Ryan used the opportunity to rip the administration’s handling of the attack, saying “their story continues to shift.”

“Even from someone like the president, who has never known what these kinds of tragedies are about and the service and sacrifice that people make, it’s still just — I can’t even get angry,” Sen. John McCain, the ranking member on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Thursday night on Fox News’s “On the Record with Greta Van Susteren.”


“It’s just so inappropriate,” McCain continued. “And I’m sure that the families of those brave Americans are not amused.”

( Also on POLITICO: McCain's version of the Benghazi answer)

In an appearance on Fox News’s “Fox and Friends” on Friday, McCain added that Obama’s use of the word “optimal” was “very regrettable and makes me a little sad.”

McCain’s comments came after Obama, who appeared on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” on Thursday, was asked by Stewart about the administration’s handling of the attack on the U.S. diplomatic facility in Benghazi that left U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans dead. Stewart said to Obama that in the aftermath, “even you would admit, it was not the optimal response, at least to the American people, as far as all of us being on the same page.”

“Here’s what I’ll say. If four Americans get killed, that’s not optimal,” Obama responded. “We’re going to fix it. All of it.”

( Also on POLITICO: Obama's 10 best "Daily Show" lines)

The instant outrage from conservatives was the latest moment of rapid response in a campaign characterized by both sides turning off-hand comments into major messaging opportunities. Obama’s “optimal” remark came after Democrats had a field day this week with Romney’s “binders full of women” comment, made at the second debate, as they tried to shred the Republican nominee’s standing with women voters.

Now, Obama’s “optimal” opening for the GOP comes just ahead of the third and final debate in Boca Raton, Fla., on Monday - where the focus is entirely on foreign affairs and where Obama’s handling of the attack in Libya is sure to be a major topic.

( PHOTOS: 10 slams on Obama and Benghazi)

Ryan told Charlie Sykes, a Wisconsin-based conservative radio host, he read the transcript of Obama’s “Daily Show” appearance, and argued that the crisis in Benghazi is emblematic of broader problems with the Obama administration’s foreign policy, according to audio of the interview posted at Time.com.

“The Benghazi thing would be a tragedy in and of itself if it was an isolated incident,” Ryan said. “The problem is, it’s not simply an isolated incident, but a picture of a broader story of the absolute unraveling of the Obama administration’s foreign policy. Go around the world and you see policy failure after policy failure, and that is something they just can’t defend.”

Ryan added that while he’s sure Obama “mourns” the Americans who died in Libya, the administration isn’t giving the public straight answers on the subject.

“Look, these deaths in Libya were a tragedy,” he said. “I’m sure that the president mourns those deaths. The problem is, their story continues to shift. They refuse to answer the basic questions about what happened. And so [Obama’s] response has been inconsistent, it’s been misleading. And more than a month later, we still have more questions than answers.”

Campaign observers are stunned that Obama has still not successfully put the Benghazi issue behind him. By using the word “optimal” to address such an emotional issue for so many Americans, Obama risks coming off as cold and removed from the deaths abroad of those serving the nation.

The Obama campaign did not immediately respond to POLITICO’s request for comment.

But former Gov. Ted Strickland (D-Ohio), a national co-chair for the Obama campaign, hit back Friday at GOP criticism of Obama’s record on Libya.

”I think this whole issue is being politicized,” Strickland said on CNN’s “Starting Point.” “And I don’t understand why. What do they think the president hopes to accomplish, if he has done, as they say, mislead the people?

Strickland, who criticized Romney for “holding a press conference” the day after the violence in Benghazi, said the GOP ticket was breaking with tradition when it comes to handling attacks on America.

“Usually when we are under attack or our country has been threatened in some way, we really come together and we unify, we don’t divide,” he said. “And I believe the Romney campaign is trying to divide Americans on this issue. And I think it’s unseemly. I don’t know what they think the president is trying to accomplish.”

Sen. Kelly Ayotte, who joined McCain on “On the Record,” also ripped Obama for his “optimal” comment.

“I have to say, the president’s statement today was quite astounding,” said Ayotte (R-N.H.). “And, you know, the murder of four Americans, of course, is tragic and totally unacceptable. And that’s what we would expect to hear from our commander-in-chief.”

Republicans also used the opportunity to launch into broader criticism of the administration’s handling of the attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi. The subject played a pivotal role in the second presidential debate as Romney, Obama and debate moderator Candy Crowley clashed over when the president characterized the attacks as an act of terror.

Ayotte, who along with McCain has been an outspoken critic of the administration’s handling of the attacks in Benghazi, said Obama has “serious questions” to answer.

“What I’m concerned about is that this is part of a bigger pattern,” she said. “And here we are, a situation for two weeks, the administration fails to come out…in multiple changing stories, fails to come out and call this what is was from the beginning: a terrorist attack, of course, by an Al Qaeda affiliate. It’s disturbing, and I think there are serious questions the president needs to answer about this.”

Former GOP Gov. George Pataki of New York said Friday he was less concerned about Obama’s phrase than he was about the administration’s approach to Libya as a whole.

“President Obama, when he said it was not optimal that we had four Americans slain, that’s a poor choice of words,” Pataki said on CNN’s “Starting Point.” “But when you’re in a campaign, if you’re going to say, every time you choose the wrong word, you’re going to be destroyed for some reason, it’s just not good for the country. Let’s focus on what matters here.”

Pataki then detailed security concerns raised at the consulate in Benghazi in the days and months leading up to the Sept. 11 attack, and delved into the question of when Obama called attacks in Libya terrorist acts. His comments came hours after the Associated Press reported that the “CIA station chief in Libya reported to Washington within 24 hours of last month’s deadly attack on the U.S. Consulate that there was evidence it was carried out by militants, not a spontaneous mob upset about an American-made video ridiculing Islam’s Prophet Muhammad,” according to U.S. officials.

The former governor slammed the Obama administration for pushing the narrative that the video was likely the cause of the attacks, which officials initially characterized as “spontaneous” but later called acts of terror.

“For over a week after the horrible attacks, this president’s administration, the U.N. ambassador, the official spokesperson, Jay Carney, were out there, saying they believe it was the video,” Pataki said. “And this is after the president allegedly understood and claimed that it was an act of terrorism. He never said that in his administration. Now who told [U.N. Amb. Susan] Rice to go on all the national talk shows and say that it was the YouTube video? Did she just think that up? Who told Jay Carney, at press conferences, to say it was the YouTube video? That didn’t come out of his own mind. That was the official position of the administration and I think it is unfortunate.”

McCain jabbed Obama for failing to explicitly take “responsibility.”

“The president on that comedy show, he said, you know, there are screwups and then we fix them,” said McCain (R-Ariz.). “He didn’t talk about responsibility, because the responsibility is his. We want to know what the president knew, when he knew it, and what did he do about it?”