This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-news-blog/2012/oct/18/al-smith-dinner-obama-romney
The article has changed 7 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 4 | Version 5 |
|---|---|
| Al Smith dinner lets Obama and Romney swap jibes for jokes | Al Smith dinner lets Obama and Romney swap jibes for jokes |
| (4 months later) | |
| On Tuesday night, the presidential candidates got so rough with each other that hot potato Tagg Romney wanted to punch the president, to protect his dad's honor. On Thursday night, the candidates will conceal their mutual disdain and take turns telling jokes from a shared podium. | On Tuesday night, the presidential candidates got so rough with each other that hot potato Tagg Romney wanted to punch the president, to protect his dad's honor. On Thursday night, the candidates will conceal their mutual disdain and take turns telling jokes from a shared podium. |
| It's time for the Al Smith dinner, the white-tie Manhattan ritual that drops like an Alka Seltzer every four years, as the race for the White House enters a stage of maximum partisan discomfort. Hosted by the archbishop of New York, the dinner promotes itself as a light-hearted break from the campaign trail. In fact it's a duty to which presidential nominees have docilely submitted since 1960, except when the whiff of controversy, usually over abortion, has made it politically inconvenient for the Catholic Church to invite them. | It's time for the Al Smith dinner, the white-tie Manhattan ritual that drops like an Alka Seltzer every four years, as the race for the White House enters a stage of maximum partisan discomfort. Hosted by the archbishop of New York, the dinner promotes itself as a light-hearted break from the campaign trail. In fact it's a duty to which presidential nominees have docilely submitted since 1960, except when the whiff of controversy, usually over abortion, has made it politically inconvenient for the Catholic Church to invite them. |
| This year Archbishop Timothy Dolan has given notice, in a blog post, of his intention to follow "the example of Jesus, who was blistered by his critics for dining with those some considered sinners". The cardinal has received "stacks of mail" urging him to have nothing to do with President Obama. The president has been invited nonetheless. | This year Archbishop Timothy Dolan has given notice, in a blog post, of his intention to follow "the example of Jesus, who was blistered by his critics for dining with those some considered sinners". The cardinal has received "stacks of mail" urging him to have nothing to do with President Obama. The president has been invited nonetheless. |
| Will the president and the governor manage to rinse themselves of partisan rancor long enough to crack up the attending guests, a mix of the political and media elite? Will they refrain from interrupting each other? Will Candy Crowley be there? | Will the president and the governor manage to rinse themselves of partisan rancor long enough to crack up the attending guests, a mix of the political and media elite? Will they refrain from interrupting each other? Will Candy Crowley be there? |
| The conventional wisdom here would place Romney, who was visibly enraged during Tuesday's debate, well outside his comfort zone. His efforts at spontaneous humor on the campaign trail routinely land as insults. His written jokes aren't much better. His laugh is as natural as Deet. | The conventional wisdom here would place Romney, who was visibly enraged during Tuesday's debate, well outside his comfort zone. His efforts at spontaneous humor on the campaign trail routinely land as insults. His written jokes aren't much better. His laugh is as natural as Deet. |
| But close observers say Romney is actually the funnier of the two candidates. The Atlantic correspondent Molly Ball has written that the Republican "has the most sophisticated – and underappreciated – sense of humor of any presidential candidate", and he wasn't bad when he delivered the Top Ten list on Letterman (No1: "Oprah is my half-sister"). | But close observers say Romney is actually the funnier of the two candidates. The Atlantic correspondent Molly Ball has written that the Republican "has the most sophisticated – and underappreciated – sense of humor of any presidential candidate", and he wasn't bad when he delivered the Top Ten list on Letterman (No1: "Oprah is my half-sister"). |
| The dinner is an extra-starch event with a low risk of anything unscripted happening. And Romney has a ton of practice at these kinds of things. | The dinner is an extra-starch event with a low risk of anything unscripted happening. And Romney has a ton of practice at these kinds of things. |
| As for the president, he's had plenty of practice of his own, including at the 2008 Al Smith dinner, when he appeared opposite John McCain. | As for the president, he's had plenty of practice of his own, including at the 2008 Al Smith dinner, when he appeared opposite John McCain. |
| "I feel right at home here," Obama said then, "because it's often been said that I share the politics of Alfred E Smith and the ears of Alfred E Neuman." He went on to make a joke about Greek columns. This year he has a bunch of great material to draw on; he can joke about how his failure in the first debate resulted in a seven-point Gallup deficit with 19 days to go. Stuff writes itself. | "I feel right at home here," Obama said then, "because it's often been said that I share the politics of Alfred E Smith and the ears of Alfred E Neuman." He went on to make a joke about Greek columns. This year he has a bunch of great material to draw on; he can joke about how his failure in the first debate resulted in a seven-point Gallup deficit with 19 days to go. Stuff writes itself. |
| The rest of the world gets to find out what happened inside the Al Smith dinner when the video is released. It should be hilarious – as long as Tagg isn't invited. | The rest of the world gets to find out what happened inside the Al Smith dinner when the video is released. It should be hilarious – as long as Tagg isn't invited. |
| Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. | Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. |