"Other than the Bears, the Steelers are probably the team that's closest to my heart," Barack Obama said back in January 2009.

So why isn't he rooting for them over the Packers next Sunday, especially given that the Pack is the arch-rival of his no. 1 team the Bears? Is it cause the Rooneys are closet Republicans? The LA Times calls him out for flip-flopping:

Now that the Steelers are back in the Super Bowl, the president has decided not to root publicly for his second-favorite team. Quite a curious decision since their opponent, the Green Bay Packers, are the longtime rival of his favorite team the Chicago Bears. Especially interesting because the Packers knocked off the Bears Sunday in order to earn their spot in the Super Bowl.

Via YouTube Thursday, Obama fielded a question from someone a Packers' backer. The president replied, "I've got to stay absolutely neutral on this one, and may the best team win."

Could it be that Wisconsin is a state Obama needs to secure for reelection? He beat Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Dairy State by 15 points in the Democratic primary in Februrary 2008, and he beat John McCain there by nearly 14 points in November. Certainly the good-natured Wisconsinites would understand if the former senator from Illinois would pull for his second-favorite team to trounce the Packers for what they did to his Bears.