White House: News conference not political

US President Barack Obama's news conference Tuesday is not timed to shift attention away from Super Tuesday's 10 Republican primaries, the White House said. The news conference, set for 1:15 p.m. EST in the Brady Press Briefing Room, is Obama's first since Nov. 14 when he held one during a U.S.-hosted Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Hawaii, and holding it Tuesday made sense, the White House said. Obama met with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu at the White House Monday, with the two leaders failing to resolve basic differences over how to deal with the Iranian nuclear threat, a White House official told The New York Times. A number of media outlets questioned the news conference's timing, coming on the biggest day yet in the Republican presidential campaign. Ten states hold caucuses and primaries with more than 400 delegates at stake, or more than a third of the total a candidate needs to clinch the nomination. The Los Angeles Times called the timing "the latest curious bit of counter-programming by the White House tied to the Republican race for president." When Michigan Republicans cast their votes in the primary Feb. 28, Obama spoke to a United Auto Workers gathering in Washington, reminding them he helped save the auto industry with a controversial bailout, even as GOP White House hopeful Mitt Romney called for the leading car companies to seek bankruptcy. Obama has also made trips to Nevada and Florida within days of those states' nominating contests and held a video town hall with Iowa Democrats the night of that state's lead-off caucuses Jan. 3. Tuesday's media event will be Obama's 19th formal solo White House news conference, CBS News reported. By contrast, predecessor George W. Bush held 11 in his first three years in office, while former Presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush held 31 and 56, respectively, The Hill reported. Obama's news conference comes as a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll released Monday showed Obama's approval rating reached 50 percent -- the highest since last May, just after the death of Osama bin Laden. The poll also showed Obama would defeat all Republican challengers. Against Romney, Obama would win 50 percent to 44 percent; Newt Gingrich, 54 percent to 37 percent; Rick Santorum, 53 percent to 39 percent, and Ron Paul 50 percent to 42 percent. The phone poll of 800 adults Wednesday through Saturday has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.