Whoever helped candidate Mitt Romney with his speech for the Al Smith Dinner with President Barack Obama deserves a gold star and a pat on the back, because Romney killed it.
The Alfred E. Smith Memorial Dinner is an annual fundraiser put on by the Catholic Archdiocese of New York for Catholic charity services. It has been a traditional stop for both presidential candidates since Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter attended in 1976.
Romney used the dinner as a chance to show his lighter side and make uproarious jabs at the current President.
“I have special admiration for the Apostle St. Peter, to whom it is said, “Upon this rock, I will build my church,” said Romney, thanking the diocese for their invitation. “The story is all the more inspiring when you consider that he had so many skeptics and scoffers at the time who were heard to say, “If you’ve got a church, you didn’t build that.”
He gibed about Obama’s jobs record and the state of the economy, calling Obama’s new campaign slogan, “you were better off than you were four weeks ago.”
Romney called out the press for their biased behavior during this election, sarcastically referring to their status as the safeguards of fairness.
“And I’ve already seen early reports from tonight’s dinner, headline; “Obama Embraced by Catholics. Romney Dines with Rich People,” he joked.
Romney also made fun of himself, especially for his lack of political background and his Big bird comments in the first Presidential debate.
“And by the way in — in the spirit of Sesame Street, the president’s remarks tonight are brought to you but the letter ‘O’ and the number $16 trillion,” he said to resounding applause and laughter.
Obama’s speech was not without its witty remarks and laughs but compared to Romney’s it came out as a so-so performance.
He spent the majority of the time quipping about himself and his own shortcomings, especially his first debate performance.
“I particularly want to apologize to Chris Matthews,” Obama said. “Four years ago, I gave him a thrill up his leg — this time around I gave him a stroke.”
Obama did get in a couple jabs against Romney, mostly about his wealth and lack of foreign policy experience.
“After — some of you guys remember, after my foreign trip in 2008, I was attacked as a celebrity because I was so popular with our allies overseas,” he said, “And I have to say, I’m impressed with how well Governor Romney has avoided that problem.”
If last night had been evaluated like a debate, Romney would have come out the clear winner both in content and delivery, except, maybe, for Al Smith IV himself.
“We recognize Obama has challenges this year,” Smith said in his opening remarks. “It’s never good when your opponent has produced more sons than you produced jobs.”
He added, “I’m pretty sure that number’s accurate. Paul Ryan gave it to me.”
Watch the video clip of Romney’s remarks below, courtesy of The Washington Examiner:
