President Obama will hold a news conference on Tuesday at the White House according to a tweet from White House Press Secretary Jay Carney. Reporters will likely pepper the president with questions regarding his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the state of the U.S. economy, concern over the ongoing violence in Syria and the race for the GOP presidential nomination. The last time the president opened himself up to a press conference was in November of 2012 at the APEC summit in Hawaii.

Tuesday’s press conference – on the same day as the GOP’s Super Tuesday primaries – has several of us asking – is it coincidence or strategy that the President has had several same day events with Republican candidates lately? For instance – the president addressed the UAW last week touting his successful auto bailout strategy – the same day as important primaries in Arizona and Michigan—home to the auto industry. He also delivered his much anticipated contraception compromise while GOP candidate Mitt Romney addressed the annual CPAC convention in February. And last fall the president requested to address a Joint Session of Congress on the same night as a scheduled GOP debate.  Ultimately he agreed to move his address to the following evening. A counter programming strategy or simple happenstance? What do you think?