These dinners are an old tradition for Presidential candidates, and it’s cool to see that they’re increasingly available for the public to view. Here are McCain and Obama’s speeches as I was able to find them on YouTube:
I thought both men were very funny. Although I think McCain was funnier on the whole, Obama was extremely funny at times (especially the parts about Krypton and his greatest weakness) and was quite gracious. He made it hard not to like him.
By the way, I heard Rush Limbaugh on the radio this week going on and on about this dinner; it seemed to dominate at least an hour of El Rushbo’s show. All Rush could do was heap praise on McCain, and lash Obama. What struck me as particularly peculiar was that he said Obama rarely if ever genuinely laughed, was mostly petulent, and was completely unfunny and often whiny during his own presentation. I used to think that Limbaugh was funny and clever, back 20 or so years ago. But now I increasingly wonder if I even live on the same planet with him.
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McCain seemed more comfortable simply because he loves this type of event. Obama actually surprised me in letting the "professor" image go for a bit. Both men were good and I really appreciated the civility and humor.
That grin may fade rapidly from the smiling young face, if the election is close enough for the Bradley effect to kick in.
Do I think there will be a Bradley effect? You betcha.
Arnold Harris
Mount Horeb WI
I thought they were both funny, but McCain much more so. Obama was clearly out of his element, but he did better than I thought he would have.
You know, I didn’t actually notice until just now, but isn’t it interesting that when I searched YouTube for the complete copies of these videos, the McCain one was from Fox News, and the Obama one was from MSNBC? I wonder if that’s entirely coincidental?
I thought both were funny and gracious, but McCain had Hillary in stitches… And that can’t be too easy.
As far as Rush Limbaugh is concerned, I’ve never cared for him, although I also don’t think he’s anything like the Leftist caricature of him. He mostly just irritates me with his hyperbole and his incessant self-promotion.
I like Bill Bennett and on some occasions I find Hugh Hewitt worth listening to.
CosmicConservative’s last blog post..Barack H. Obama
McCain definitely has better delivery than Obama does. The SNL version of the last debate illuminated something for me when it comes to these two and comedy. If they were actual humor professionals, McCain would be the one delivering all the jokes. Obaam would be the straight man, acting as if all the jokes are serious.
You know, I didn’t actually notice until just now, but isn’t it interesting that when I searched YouTube for the complete copies of these videos, the McCain one was from Fox News, and the Obama one was from MSNBC? I wonder if that’s entirely coincidental?
Yes and no. The dinner was shown in it’s entirety on CNN, MSNBC, and Fox. I watched it on CNN myself. However, what is not a coincidence is the person who put up each candidate’s speech/funnays was probably more likely to watch the candidate’s supporting news station.
I think McCain missed one of his callings in life. That man is funny, just not at the Alfred E. Smith dinner, but also in other places. He’s been funny on SNL, he’s one of the few people that can handle Jon Stewart and go toe to toe with him in a battle of wits in the political world that I’ve seen, and I’ve seen him display excellent wit on a number of other occasions. In other words, he could have been a comedian, he’s a pretty witty guy.
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