Striking a rare light note in the bitter White House
race:
Obama ‘roasts’ Romney at big dinner
* Annual star-studded dinner used to
rip rivals in amusing tone
* He gently ribbed at Clinton who
partied in Colombia
US: Cheered by Hollywood stars, President Barack Obama late Saturday
lampooned Mitt Romney's wealth and mined a shaggy dog story about his
foe, striking a rare light note in the bitter White House race. Obama
used an annual star-studded dinner with White House correspondents and
Hollywood A-listers, which presidents use to rip their rivals, to take a
few gentle shots at Rommey, before the two rivals face off for the
presidency.
He riffed off the hit movie the “Hunger Games” to poke Romney's hard
bore Republican primary approach which he said saw “wealthy sponsors”
brutally savage each other until only one contestant is left standing.
“I'm sure this was a great change of pace for him,” Obama joked
before a crowd of 2,000 journalists and celebrities.
“Everybody is predicting a nasty election. And thankfully, we've all
agreed that families are off-limits,” Obama said, after a period when
the two campaigns have feuded over the women's vote.
“Dogs, however, are apparently fair game,” Obama quipped.
Romney has been dogged by Democratic supporters who keep bringing up
the former Massachusetts governor's long-time ago family road trip when
he affixed his family pet aboard the roof of his station wagon in a
kennel.
As Obama spoke, a large screen in the ballroom of the Washington
hotel hosting the dinner, pictured a mock-up of a dog kennel atop Air
Force One.
Obama also jabbed Congress which has frustrated his job creation
plans and most of the rest of his agenda since Congress seized the House
of Representatives in 2010 mid-term elections. “I've tried to be civil,
to not take any cheap shots. And that's why I want to especially thank
all the members who took a break from their exhausting schedule of not
passing any laws to be here tonight,” he said.
The president also took a swipe at a remodelling project in one of
Romney's homes in California, quipping that the huge ballroom in the
hotel was what his foe would call a “little fixer upper.”
He also gently ribbed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, his former
Democratic primary rival, who was pictured enjoying a late night drink
with friends at the Summit of Americas several weeks ago.
“Four years ago, I was locked in a brutal primary battle with Hillary
Clinton. Four years later, she won't stop drunk texting me from
Cartagena,: Obama said.
And the president, who was embarrassed by a Secret Service sex
scandal during a recent trip to Colombia took a gentle swipe at his
elite bodyguard.
“I had a lot more material prepared, but I have to get the Secret
Service home before their new curfew,” he said. There was no sign of
Romney at the dinner, though there were sightings of his combative
political aid Eric Fehrnstrom. The dinner gets blanket media coverage in
glamor-challenged Washington DC, which is sometimes mockingly referred
to as 'Hollywood, for ugly people.' It is an annual chance for media and
political elites in Washington, a town where those looking for starpower
normally have to make do with cabinet members or senators, to rub
shoulder with Hollywood's biggest stars.
This year's dinner, the centerpiece of a weekend of parties, will be
memorable for political reasons too. Obama had a fine line to tread as
he enters a six-month sprint to November's presidential election.
The dinner gave the president the chance to be funny, come across as
“cool” and a free invitation to poke fun at his political opponents. But
at a time when Republicans are again contrasting his “celebrity” with
the plight of Americans still going through economic pain, he might not
have much to gain from hanging out with a bunch of Hollywood
celebrities.
Last year at the dinner, Obama put on the ultimate show of political
sang-froid, ordering the raid that was to kill Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin
Laden, then stepping up on stage to wisecrack his way through his
speech.
Twenty-four hours later, he would appear on television again -- to
announce the successful completion of the Navy SEALs raid deep into
Pakistan. Celebrities at the dinner include reality TV starlet Kim
Kardashian, hard partying actress Lindsay Lohan and hearthrob and Oscar
winner George Clooney.
AFP |