Romney handed binder full of jokes

Last night was the 67th Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, which is sponsored by the Archdiocese of New York and raises money for various healthcare-related causes*. Named for Al Smith, the first Roman Catholic candidate for president, the dinner has become a must-attend event for presidents and presidential candidates (both Barack Obama and John McCain attended in 2008), who entertain the crowd of political, media, and religious luminaries with jokes poking fun at themselves and their opponents (but not in a cruel or vicious way, supposedly).

Last night, the keynote speakers at the annual Al Smith dinner were former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and President of the United States Barack Obama.

Here is what Mitt Romney, who had been handed a binder full of jokes earlier in the week, had to say those assembled in the ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York.



And here is what President Barack Obama had to say:



Republicans will no doubt say Mitt Romney was way funnier; Democrats that Barack Obama was. (Yes, even humor is partisan, folks.) Obama seemed more comfortable, relaxed, getting his funny on than Romney but Romney did a good job delivering his lines, though he spent more time poking "fun" (often sneeringly) at his Democratic opponent than at himself (or Obama did of Romney).

More about the 67th Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner here.

*Which will come in handy if Romney is elected president.