It's little things like that that show how tightly he has been managed as a politician.  He just can't seem to handle much on his own...stumbling & stammering over words, calling people 'asshole', trying to open a locked door then standing at attention, chuckling when far from appropriate, and making a spectacle of himself when kids wave the old peace sign.  It makes Karl Rove seem like even more of a genius...and that in turn makes last years election collapse even more startling.