The chance to ask a question during a prime-time presidential press conference is treasured real estate in the world of journalism. So when the President called on Steve Koff of the Cleveland Plain Dealer on Wednesday night, it was not an insignificant moment for either him or his paper.

And yet, as soon as the moment presented itself, it disappeared. Steven Thomma of McClatchy stood up as soon as Barack Obama said “Steve,” not Koff. Within a matter of milliseconds the president’s attention was on the wrong portion and journalist of the room.

The question, like those beforehand, centered on the health care debate. But half the audience was distracted. Koff and the group of reporters around him were asking what exactly happened.

When Obama, in the course of answering the question, mentioned that he’d been stopping in Cleveland the next day, bits of laughter erupted.

“I thought, this isn’t right,” Thomma recalled after the press conference was over. “I gave him a quizzical look and he gave me a quizzical look.”

Luckily for him, the mistake was rectified. Koff stood up after Obama’s answer was finished, explained politely that a mishap had just occurred, and asked his question – again about health care, though with a Cleveland-specific angle.