WHAT A difference two days makes. Barack Obama and Mitt Romney were all smiles and jokes at a high-profile Catholic charity dinner in New York on Thursday night, marking a change from Tuesday’s presidential debate at Hofstra University where the president and his Republican challenger demonstrated there was no love lost between them.
Both Obama and Romney delivered speeches widely lauded for their wit and self-deprecation, just two days after a heated and often barbed debate at Hofstra.
Sporting white-tie dinner attire, Romney began his speech by joking, “It’s nice to finally relax and wear what Ann and I wear around the house.”
Playing to the well-to-do, $2,500-a plate audience at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in Manhattan, he continued to poke fun at his own wealth by saying, “As President Obama surveys the Waldorf banquet room with everyone in white tie and finery, you have to wonder what he is thinking: ‘So little time, so much to redistribute.’”
Similarly, the president was quick to make light of his poor performance in the first presidential debate held in Colorado two weeks ago.
“As some of you may have noticed, I had a lot more energy in our second debate. I felt really well-rested after the nice, long nap I had in the first debate,” he quipped.
He too had a go at Romney’s huge fortune.
“Earlier today, I went shopping at some stores in Midtown. I understand Governor Romney went shopping for some stores in Midtown,” he joked.
Both men were praised for their performances in the US media yesterday. But as the candidates were generating laughs at the dinner hosted by the Catholic Archdiocese of New York, Obama was appearing on the Comedy Central channel for what turned out to be a somewhat more serious affair than usual.
Comedian Jon Stewart, who hosts the daily news satire programme The Daily Show, had his usual pre-prepared string of gags.
However, he also asked several pointed questions about the attack on the US consulate in Libya, and the president’s record over the past four years.
Asked about his performance in the Colorado debate, Obama put it down to his having an “off night”.
“The presentation wasn’t the way it needed to be. But the issues haven’t changed. They didn’t change after the first debate and they didn’t change in the second debate,” he said.
Of the apparent confusion within his administration following the Benghazi attack, the president said every piece of information that was received was “laid out for the American people” as he had received it.
“If four Americans get killed it’s not optimal, and we’re going to fix it. And . . . what happens during the course of a presidency is that, you know, the government is a big operation. At any given time something screws up. And you make sure you find out what’s broken and you fix it,” he added.
Thursday’s events were described by the New York Times as “respite from a campaign that has grown nastier as it has grown closer”.
It is not expected to last long, however. The third and final presidential debate will take place at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida, on Monday when it’s expected the gloves will once again be off.