Presidential Stand-Up: The Best Romney and Obama Comedy from the Al Smith Charity Dinner

October 19, 2012 • Commentary • by
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With election season coming to a spectacular end in the coming weeks, President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney met on stage at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City for the 67th annual Al Smith white-tie charity dinner. The two presidential candidates took a respite from the campaign to deliver speeches that are essentially ten-minute bits of stand-up comedy.

The dinner is a gathering of the ultra-elite who don white bow-ties and tailcoats to benefit Catholic charities, but attendance by the candidates has become of the essential path to the White House. The Airspace listened through both Obama’s and Romney’s speech-slash-roasts and cut out the best sound bites between the two. Governor Romney’s jokes tended to resonate more and bring in larger laughs while President Obama delivered more jokes in a slightly shorter speech. Both candidates ended their bits with a sincere mention for their opponent and a recognition of the charity dinner.

Wherever you stand on the politics at hand, it was a good night for each campaign’s joke writers.

Attribution

The New York Times

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