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Friday, October 19, 2012

Barack Obama and Mitt Romney pierce jokes at charity dinner

President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney met for the first time in debate where they traded verbal blows and stalked each other on stage.





But the two men were at a charity dinner in New York, and they greeted each other warmly, dressed formally in white tie and tails.




Obama and Romney sat separately only by Cardinal Timothy Dolan. He is the archbishop of New York and spoke with both the Republican and Democratic conventions in late August and early September.





This time the competition was for laughs, and Mitt Romney, who is often accused of being stiff and not likeable enough, prove himself to be, well, surprisingly funny.



Dressed in white tie, Romney opened by joking that he was glad to be able to attend the white tie function wearing “what Ann and I wear around the house.”

But Romney quickly turned his humor to roasting his opponent. He said he wished President Barack Obama would have bought Vice President Joe Biden with him “because he’ll laugh at anything.”
Romney closed by praising his opponent and showing him a measure of genuine praise.
“We don’t carry the burden of disliking one another,” said Romney, praising Obama’s political talents and love for his family. “In our country, you can oppose someone in politics and make a confident case about their policies without any ill-will. And that’s how it is for me. There’re more to life than politics.”

Obama starts by saying -“Everybody please take your seats, otherwise Clint Eastwood will yell at them,”

Obama asked- “In less than three weeks, voters in states like Ohio, Virginia and Florida will decide this incredibly important election, which begs the question – what are we doing here?”

Obama also joked- “Tonight, I am here with a man who was a popular governor, who knows what it’s like to run a major Northeastern state and who very well could be president someday, and I am hoping it is Andrew Cuomo,”

Obama closed by thanking his hosts and praised the nature of American democracy for making a moment like the Al Smith Dinner possible. He praised Mitt Romney, too, as a husband and father.


Obama finally said in closing- “We may have different political perspectives, but I think — in fact I’m certain – that we share the hope that the next four year will affect the same decency and the same willingness to come together for a higher purpose that are on display this evening,”