# Obama Funny; McCain Funny Again **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 17, 2008, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-funny-mccain-funny-again/468344 "2008-10-17T05:25:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-funny-mccain-funny-again/468344/1 "2008-10-17T05:25:54Z")
The YouTubes of tonight’s AL SMITH DINNER speeches are below. It was cool seeing Obama loosen up (even if he did pronounce Jor-El in an elitist fashion). It was also cool seeing John McCain being funny and likable again like he used to be on _The Daily Show_. It was also funny seeing them trashing each other to each other’s faces with laughter. Now they can go back to saying pretty much the same thing without the laughter. [McCain Roasts Obama Part 1](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Goaj5V4tZoc) [McCain Part 2](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrqoSyKsAPw) [Obama Roasts McCain](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5SWQJWm6Tg) ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-funny-mccain-funny-again/468344/2 "2008-10-17T05:44:55Z")
Wow, that was awesome. I’d never heard of this dinner before; are there videos of previous ones? ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-funny-mccain-funny-again/468344/3 "2008-10-17T06:20:05Z")
> [@Indistinguishable](#): > > Wow, that was awesome. I’d never heard of this dinner before; are there videos of previous ones? There wasn’t one for 2004 because John Kerry was battling with the Catholic Church, so he wasn’t invited. In fairness, Bush wasn’t invited either. One episode of The West Wing was about the Al Smith Dinner. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-funny-mccain-funny-again/468344/4 "2008-10-17T06:25:45Z")
The spat about John Kerry being Catholic and pro-choice prevented him from being able to attend? Interesting… I’d’ve thought that was at least “better” than non-Catholic and pro-choice, but what do I know? ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-funny-mccain-funny-again/468344/5 "2008-10-17T06:40:42Z")
Thank god Obama went into politics; he did not miss his calling in comedy. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-funny-mccain-funny-again/468344/6 "2008-10-17T06:43:00Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > (even if he did pronounce Jor-El in an elitist fashion) How do you say it? I’ve always said it just like Obama did. The only person I recall hearing pronounce it differently is Howard Stern, who says Jerell. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-funny-mccain-funny-again/468344/7 "2008-10-17T06:56:58Z")
I hate to admit it, but I think McCain won the Al Smith Dinner. I laughed out loud a couple of times at both, but I think Johnny Mac’s delivery was better. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-funny-mccain-funny-again/468344/8 "2008-10-17T08:32:23Z")
> [@TWDuke](#): > > I hate to admit it, but I think McCain won the Al Smith Dinner. I laughed out loud a couple of times at both, but I think Johnny Mac’s delivery was better. Well, he’s had a lot longer to work on his timing… ---
**Author:** ![shantih](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@shantih](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shantih)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-funny-mccain-funny-again/468344/9 "2008-10-17T09:15:20Z")
That was a hoot! Great delivery from both, but especially from John McCain. Two thumbs up! ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-funny-mccain-funny-again/468344/10 "2008-10-17T09:33:32Z")
> [@TWDuke](#): > > I hate to admit it, but I think McCain won the Al Smith Dinner. I laughed out loud a couple of times at both, but I think Johnny Mac’s delivery was better. I agree (maybe Letterman gave him some tips earlier in the day?). And it was very nice that in the heat of an election, they both could have some fun. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-funny-mccain-funny-again/468344/11 "2008-10-17T13:49:31Z")
Very funny, and good to see Obama being less formal. One of his best Palin shots was the one about being able to see the Russian Tea Room from the front door of the hotel. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-funny-mccain-funny-again/468344/12 "2008-10-17T13:56:26Z")
I thought McCain did a fine job when he hosted Saturday Night Live a few years ago. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-funny-mccain-funny-again/468344/13 "2008-10-17T15:01:33Z")
I thought McCain was quite funny - his speechwriters found a lot of the humor about Obama’s campaign that _The Daily Show_ seems to be overlooking. But WTF was the “African-American in the White House” bit about? Is the most remarkable, commendable thing about Obama that McCain can come up with the fact that he’s black? That felt icky oogy to me. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-funny-mccain-funny-again/468344/14 "2008-10-17T15:21:12Z")
That was hilarious, both of them. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-funny-mccain-funny-again/468344/15 "2008-10-17T16:38:19Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > One episode of The West Wing was about the Al Smith Dinner. That was the one where Brad Whitfield’s character talked about the need to “bring the Funny” to the speech-writing process right? Man, I still use that phrase constantly… I thought Obama’s statement re: rumors swirling about him having two African-American children born within wedlock was hilarious. But overall, McCain brought more Funny… ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-funny-mccain-funny-again/468344/16 "2008-10-17T16:42:27Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I thought McCain did a fine job when he hosted Saturday Night Live a few years ago. And as a frequent guest on _The Daily Show_. It’ll be interesting to see- if he doesn’t win the election this year- if he’ll ever go on again after the fun they’ve had with him. He’s a politician first and foremost, and it has millions of viewers, so I’m guessing he will. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-funny-mccain-funny-again/468344/17 "2008-10-17T16:47:02Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Very funny, and good to see Obama being less formal. One of his best Palin shots was the one about being able to see the Russian Tea Room from the front door of the hotel. :smack: That one so whooshed me, I had to look around, because I could hear it flying over my head. This is going to sound dumb: I presume that they did not write their own stuff, right? ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-funny-mccain-funny-again/468344/18 "2008-10-17T16:47:41Z")
It was so nice to have a bit of a break from all the vitriol surrounding this campaign. Although I’m not voting for Obama, I thoroughly enjoyed his routine as much as McCain’s. I wonder…is this campaign just business between McCain and Obama? McCain said some very nice things about respecting Obama and that he’s a fine man, so I wonder if it’s like defense attorneys and prosecutors…they may bash each other’s heads out in court, but it’s nothing personal, and afterward they’ll go have a drink together. Not that I can see McCain and Obama bar-hopping anytime soon, but I hope they don’t snub each other in the halls of the Senate. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-funny-mccain-funny-again/468344/19 "2008-10-17T16:49:02Z")
> [@mlees](#): > > This is going to sound dumb: I presume that they did not write their own stuff, right? Hell no. Did you see how uncomfortable Barack was delivering the “I’m so awesome” line? Or how he didn’t say 5 words in a row without reading from his script? (Not to be insulting; my choice for president is Obama but if we we’re voting for Last Comic Standing I’m a McCainiac.) ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-funny-mccain-funny-again/468344/20 "2008-10-17T16:51:25Z")
That was so refreshing to see! Thanks for posting the videos. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-funny-mccain-funny-again/468344.md?page=2)