Both presidential candidates took the night off (sort of) from campaigning to attend the annual Al Smith charity dinner held in New York. The event is sponsored by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, raising millions for Catholic Charities, and regularly attracts the 'A list' of New York politicians and high society figures. In presidential election years it has become a tradition for the nominees of both parties to appear at the dinner and deliver usually humorous remarks to the crowd. Over the years the dinner has attracted its share of luminaries including Sir Winston Churchill. It also has gained a measure of fame as one of the last remaining society functions with a formal (white tie) dress code.
They both had me laughing, but Romney's speech was hilarious.
“Let every man divide his money into three parts, and invest a third in land, a third in business and a third let him keep by him in reserve.� ~Talmud
I also thought Romney won. Obama doesn't really have the gift for this kind of speech. But hands down the best speech I ever heard at the Al was McCain's back in '08. He brought the house down.
We also thought it was much better than the debates. Romney got his point across in a clear, very funny, entertaining way. But, then again, one may have to be up on the political shenanigans and rhetoric to "get it" on a lot of the one-liners. My spouse and I were thigh slapping laughing at some of Romney's zingers. We though Obama came across as arrogant in his speech, but some of it was slightly funny. We also thought the audience laughter was a good gage of the speeches. We would really liked to have seen Obama's face and body language during Romney's speech ... he was likely seething. All in all, this was a side of Romney we had not seen before; wish he would show more of his funny side on the campaign trail.
Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no help. Psalm 146:3