With all that Hollywood talent available to him, normally the Democratic guest at the Al Smith dinner outshines the Republican. This year, however, President Obama didn't press the gas too hard. His jokes were mainly aimed at himself, and were chucklers rather than laugh out loud. He threw one gentle jibe at Mitt Romney for successfully avoiding the mistake he made in 2008 of being seen as a global celebrity more popular abroad than at home. Otherwise … well, you can watch here.
Mitt Romney's speech was the more uproarious - and the harder-edged, aimed both at the president and himself. The room seemed to agree too. Watch here:
