Comedy Night at the Al Smith Dinner

It was a refreshing contrast to the bitter and verbal jabbing debates when McCain and Obama attended the Annual Al Smith Dinner at the Waldorf=Astoria last week. There are many kinds of comedy out there. Satire and political satire use ironic comedy to portray persons as either ridiculously silly or corrupt, thus alienating their audience from the object of humor. Satire is a type of comedy.

Screwball comedy derives its humor largely from bizarre, surprisingly impossible situations or characters. Black comedy is defined by dark humor that makes light of so called "dark" or evil elements in human nature.

At the Al Smith Dinner both McCain and Obama showed their lighter sides poking fun of themselves and each other in a playful, yet hilariously delightful way.

I loved it when McCain said that he knows Obama so well from serving with him in the Senate that he can call him "that one" without Obama taking offense. When Obama spoke, he said his name Barack means "That One" in Swahili.

I also thought that Obama saying that one of his faults is that he's almost "too awesome" and that he regrets his celebrity status as he "wanted to punch a paparazzi outside of Spago's the other night and almost spilled his latte on his Shih Tzu" as an effete almost gay retort.

On the other hand, McCain wasw too funny claiming that he still thinks there were some Manhattan Democrats out there in the audience rooting for him, then looked at Hillary and thanked her for being there.

Barack poking fun at Giuliani was priceless - and his remark that he would never wear lipstick himself - nor put it on a pig or a pit bull -- was another classic.

When McCain said he was going to fire his entire campaign staff and hire "Joe the Plumber," he was picking up on criticism of the campaign in that day's news headlines, and his material was amazingly fresh and timely.

When Barack said he was born on Krypton and his father was Jor-El and his mission was to save the earth, he also underscored the depth of his popularity and the hopes people are placing on him to "save the world."

I also loved Barack's comment that his father never thought he would ever run for President or he wouldn't have given him his middle name: (Hussein.)

All in all, when the candidates make fun of themselves and each other, it shows their talents when they are not fighting each other and the true personalities of the individuals are revealed. I found McCain much more likeable because he seemed so relaxed as a comic - then again, he is Irish!

I also felt that Barack's delivery was a little stilted compared to McCain's but that he came across as charming and witty. (More like a latte-drinking comic like Jon Stewart that Bill Maher.)

The debates were more difficult to grade because both candidates made errors: i.e., Obama when he talked about Colombia and rising labor leader murders - wrong! And McCain when he brought up Ayers - again - another negative attack without merit since Obama was a child when Ayers did his "terrorist" deeds.

If we were to judge the candidates by their sense of humor, their candidness and their personalities alone, it would be a tighter race in my mind. Since we still have to decide based on issues, the decision as to who would be a better president, still remains a difficult one for many people.

We have to think about the economy and who would help us more in terms of creating new jobs, reducing our dependency on foreign oil and energy, and how to restore confidence to boost spending.

We have to measure how much money we would save if we withdrew from Iraq and stopped playing "police" of the world.

We also have to improve education and healthcare for millions of Americans.

We also have to weigh who takes global warming and climate change more seriously.

Both of these candidates have qualities we can admire. On November 4th, we have to decide who would best serve America at this crucial time in history.

PR Beat: Public Relations "No No's" by McCain Last Night

PR Beat: Public Relations "No No's" by McCain Last Night

Public Relations "No No's" by McCain Last Night

John McCain has one more chance at the last debate next week to get those Undecided voters to see him as the possible 44^th president of the United States, but he blew it – again – in last night’s debate in Nashville, mostly because of PR missteps.

I don’t know who is advising his campaign, but his PR experts should be fired, as The Donald would say.

1. Ditch “My Friends”

First of all, he continues to use the term “My Friends” sprinkled throughout his remarks, annoying even supporters like Bill O’Reilly because of its outdated, condescending tone.

2. Show Respect to your Opponent

He also showed disrespect for Obama by calling him “That one,” opening him up to even more criticism for not looking his opponent in the eye, even once, and then referring to him in such an impersonal, disparaging and dismissive tone. McCain’s advisors should counsel him on body language, encouraging him to make eye contact with Obama as he debates rather than glaring at the audience in frustration or anger about Obama’s responses during the debate.

3. Look Affable

During the debate, he also lost many opportunities to score points with his television-viewing audience by looking annoyed whenever Obama was speaking and the camera panned to McCain.

4. It’s the Economy, Stupid!

If McCain is angry and looks angry, he should have gotten angry about the financial “rescue” plan to echo the audience sentiments and boldly declare that he was going to pursue legal measures to investigate the leaders of these banks and mortgage lending companies. He should have said he would investigate those who got us into this mess and prosecute those responsible, ensuring major fines and possible jail time. He would have hit a homerun with the audience who expressed their frustration about the bailout, and want the government to jumpstart the economy, provide financial assistance to consumers and “get those greedy bums.”

5. Counsel your Spokespersons with new policy

McCain stunned everyone announcing a new policy statement that if elected, he would bailout homeowners by reducing their mortgage payments to be more in line with their value in this market, something that would cost another $300 billion but keep people in their homes. He did this without telling his advisors or spokespersons like Gov. Romney who was interviewed after the debate and knew nothing about it, caught flat-footed.

6. Smooth vs. Uneasy

McCain continues to stress his opponent’s lack of experience as a major reason why people should vote for him, yet his uncomfortable, stumbling and stuttering speaking style made Obama appear more relaxed, poised, confident in front of his audience and more connected to the people.

7. Hang out with the Audience

Finally, McCain left the debate immediately after the event ended with his beautiful wife Cindy in tow, rather than interact with the audience members as Barack and Michelle Obama did. This reinforces the image that McCain is “out of touch” with mainstream, middle class America.

McCain has one more chance to shore up his image and win the hearts and votes of those undecided voters. Let’s see if he can turn it around next week at Hofstra.