At Charity Dinner, Self-Deprecation and Plenty of Zingers

Applause filled the Waldorf-Astoria ballroom as a parade of 70 of New York's most powerful people strode onto the dais at the Al Smith Foundation dinner on Thursday night. There were millionaires and billionaires, politicians and union leaders, talk-show hosts and pundits.

The cheers grew for Ann Romney, and built into a warm ovation for her husband, Mitt Romney. As the president walked in, the crowd of 1,600 rose to their feet. They remained standing and clapping as Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, the leader of the Archdiocese of New York, arrived, and as the cardinal inched his way toward his seat, President Obama helped him into his chair.

Alfred E. Smith IV, the master of ceremonies for the evening, took the podium and announced, in his r aspy voice, that he would be the evening's “referee.” Setting the tone, his first dig was at Mr. Romney.

“I want to say a special welcome to all the accomplished women here tonight,” he said. “It's good to see you made it out of those binders.” There was some laughter, but it was restrained, as if people were not yet sure how Mr. Romney would take the joke.

The program moved forward, and the room started to vibrate with the sound of 1,000 salad forks clinking against 1,000 porcelain plates.

Cardinal Dolan and Mr. Obama, on his right, leaned into each other, laughing about something, their shoulders nearly touching. The Romneys, at the start, looked a bit less comfortable. But after a while, Cardinal Dolan turned to his left and with a grin, engaged Mr. Romney, who smiled back.

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Of all the local politicians, it was Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo who got the most attention from the night's heavy hitters. Both candidates and the moderator found the temptation to poke fun at his rumored interest in running for president in 2016 too much to resist.

Mr. Smith, the M.C., started it off: “The governor is working on some material for his 2016 Al Smith Dinner speech. I notice he gets closer and closer to the podium every year. It's like ‘Jaws.' Dah dum, dah dum.”

Then Mr. Romney, reflecting on the similarities between himself and Mr. Cuomo said: “A very impressive fellow, but he may be getting a little ahead of himself,” he said of New York's governor. “Let me get this straight: here's a man who has put in one term as governor, and happens to have a father who was a governor, and he thinks that's enough to run for president?”

Still, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg was not forgotten, particularly his easy-to-tease ban on large sugary drinks.

“Of course, I want to raise my glass to Your Honor, Mayor Bloomberg,” said Mr. Smith. And he pulled out a 72-ounce Big Gulp and tipped it over his own face.

And keeping with the semi-somber, but still funny, note that Mr. Obama kept striking, he said: “Win or lose, this will be my last political campaign. So I'm trying to drink it all in. Unfortunately, Mayor Bloomberg will only let me have 16 ounces.”

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The candidates' speeches at the Al Smith dinner tend to follow a pattern. First, poke fun at yourself. Then, skewer some of your opponent's flaws. Finally, wrap it up with the equivalent of a verbal hug, by saying that deep down, you respect the other candidate, particularly as a father and a family man.

But this year, Cardinal Dolan, in his speech, managed to work in a bit more substance. After joking about his girth (his favorite humor
subject) and the message that Pope Benedict XVI told him to bring to the candidates (it was in Latin, he said, so he didn't understand it), he sermonized about the legacy of Al Smith and how he had “a tear in his Irish eyes for what we would call the ‘uns'” of the world.

“The unemployed. The uninsured. The unwanted. The unwed mothers. The innocent fragile unborn baby in her womb. The undocumented. The unhoused. The unhealthy. The undereducated,” he said.

Religious liberty is the core value of our nation, he said, but that does not leave government without a role. “Government, Al Smith believed, should be on the side of these ‘uns,'” he said, prompting applause from the well-heeled crowd.

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So who was funnier? Who gave the best speech? Lingering amid the aromas of chocolate and passion-fruit syrup and coffee in the towering ballroom at the end of the night, the audience was divided.

Some thought Mr. Romney had by far the stronger delivery. “The president seemed a little bit flat, as if he were tired, or maybe missing Michelle,” said Edward J.T. Kenney, an executive vice president at Mutual of America. “I think he misses her when she's not there. Where was she?”

Ot hers thought Mr. Obama had been more, in a word, presidential.

“The president was serious, interesting, respectful, and was truly a leader,” said the Rev. John Duffell, a longtime parish priest in Manhattan. “I thought he was self-effacing, and that Romney was a little hostile and political.”

It was true that the two men had seemed to take different approaches in their 15-minute speeches. Mr. Romney stuffed his chock-full of zingers for President Obama and his policies, of the sort that he seemed eager to deliver.

Don't be surprised, Mr. Romney told the audience, if the president mentions the monthly jobs report that showed a “slight improvement” in the numbers. “He already has a compelling new slogan,” he continued.

“You're better off now than you were four weeks ago.”

“The president's remarks tonight,” he added, “are brought to you by the letter O and the number $16 trillion,” riffing on the Sesame Street theme that he raised in the first debate.

President Obama, meanwhile, was mostly self-deprecating, even self-critical. He opened and closed with jokes about his performance at the first debate.

“It turns out that millions of Americans focused in on the second debate who didn't focus in on the first debate,” he said. “And I happen to be one of them.” He added: “I particularly want to apologize to Chris Matthews,” referring to the MSNBC commentator who was sitting directly behind him. “Four years ago, I gave him a thrill up his leg. This time around, I gave him a stroke.”