Mitt Romney and Barack Obama Go for Laughs on the Campaign Trail
Mitt Romney bids to humanize himself and President Obama jokes about his daughters’ blossoming sexuality.
Romney on Romney: 'Not Too Quick on the Uptake'
On Wednesday Mitt Romney was in Grand Rapids, Mich., where he delivered a humorous anecdote about his mom and dad:
You’re probably thinking: what better way for Mitt to humanize himself than to remind people of the incontrovertible fact that he is the spawn of other humans! “We’re not too quick on the uptake”? That dash of self-deprecation should humanize him for sure!
If only the Romneytron-2012 had not then immediately proceeded into, you guessed it, his pre-programmed “America the Beautiful” routine:
Your Tactical Humorist has previously chronicled this tired and drastically overused bit. As Mitt continues to parrot the performance, more and more Republicans will surely agree with David Letterman and Jon Stewart:
Rombo: First Mud
Many in the blogosphere refer to Mitt Romney as “Mittens”—a half-mocking term that somehow does a better job of humanizing the candidate than his own campaign has done to date. But take note of a newly minted moniker that ups the mockery ante while critiquing Mitt’s aggressive attack strategy. Rick Santorum “approves this message.” Ladies and gentlemen, meet “Rombo.”
It’s well known by now that Mitt will “severely” outspend his opponents on negative ads, and this particular rejoinder looks to strike that chord with an added bit of subtext: attacking Santorum is much harder than attacking Newt Gingrich—and not without its consequences.
As TPM reports, Santorum’s communications director had this to say: “Governor Romney going toe to toe with Rick Santorum on social issues is like Ryan Seacrest going toe to toe with Mike Tyson.”
Here’s mud in your eye, Mitt.
Obama’s ‘Daughter Jokes’: Uncomfortable for Everyone
While Mitt was pushing the “play” button on his prerecorded stump speech, President Obama was in Wisconsin visiting the Master Lock factory. While there, he touched on “in-sourcing,” the importance of American manufacturing, and the economic turnaround. But he also played for laughs:
Admittedly, it is fairly cringeworthy to watch the president joke about the blossoming sexuality of his daughters. Nevertheless, it’s good to see him telling this kind of joke without setting off any tripwires in the global war on terror, as this iteration of the same joke nearly did: