Yeah, that’s the little filament that is used to pull the ear piece out of the ear.
Now, I wonder if he was wearing one in debate II, as well. I noticed that Obama nodded sometimes like he was agreeing with someone and I was wondering who he was communicating with. I thought that it must have been Bob Scheiffer, but I couldn’t imagine that during the debate.
It looks like there may have been a screw up by someone... even the filament from an Obama "earpiece" should never be seen in a photo. There are “invisible” ear pieces available to the public that would not be detectable. I am sure that Obama’s croneys have access to much better technology than what can be seen in the following ad.
http://microear.co.uk/invisible-earpiece/spy-invisible-earpiece.html