Every four years since 1960 (save for 1996 and 2004), the Presidential Candidates speak at the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, a fundraiser for Catholic charities. Al Smith was the four-time Governor of the state of New York, and failed Democratic Presidential Candidate of 1928, losing to Herbert Hoover because of his Catholicism (as they feared he would answer to the Pope) and his perceived anti-Prohibitionism. He was the first Catholic to be a major party nominee (the first Catholic Candidate overall being Charles O'Conor of the Bourbon Democrats in 1872).
This time around, both Candidates spoke at the dinner, after neither candidate was allowed to in the last election due to the spat between John Kerry and the Catholic Church on the issue of abortion. First, it was John McCain's opportunity to wow the crowd with his comedy...
If your reaction was the same as mine, you are wondering why McCain hasn't been showing this side of himself the entire campaign? I was literally on the floor I was laughing so hard. This must be why they say he is so good in Town Hall meetings (although he was pretty horrible in the sole Town Hall Debate). After McCain came his Democratic counterpart, Barack Obama...
Obama was pretty funny, too. I do not think his comedy rose to the level of that of McCain's, but I was still highly impressed nonetheless. In a time when the smear campaign (especially from the McCain/Palin ticket) has been in full force, it was good to see some good natured, and yet sometimes vicious yet funny, blows be thrown at the opponent. And the self-deprecating humor, especially from Obama, is always a favorite of mine.
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