Obama Yuks It Up at Gridiron

And Mitch Daniels has some fun with the president
By Polly Davis Doig,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 13, 2011 8:40 AM CDT
Obama Gridiron Dinner: President Yuks It Up, Mitch Daniels Parries
Gov. Mitch Daniels was also reportedly funny.   (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

The Boss' hit "Born in the USA" greeted President Obama as he took the stage for the first Gridiron Dinner of his presidency, and the jokes went on from there, reports Politico. A rundown of the highlights (or lowlights) of the posh annual media dinner:

  • On Haley Barbour's heft: “Haley, when Michelle said you should run, she didn’t mean for president."
  • On Tim Pawlenty: “I think the American people are going to have some tough questions for Tim. Specifically, ‘Who are you and where do you come from?’ Which is OK. Two years into my presidency and I’m still getting those questions.”
  • On Jon Huntsman: “My dear, dear friend Jon Huntsman—nobody has done more for my administration. He’s the yin to my yang.”
  • On Mitch Daniels: "Your friends at Fox News say you don’t look like a president. Well, don’t worry about it, they say the same thing about me every day.”

Daniels got in some shots of his own for the Republican side:

  • On Obama: “Mr. President you’re not laughing, who forgot to put ha-ha-ha on the teleprompter?” and (wearing a sling), “Mr. President, until I get this thing off, I can cling to my gun or my Bible but not both.”
  • On the real reason for Daniels' sling: “I sat in a middle seat between Haley Barbour and Chris Christie. Their tummies were tucked in the full upright and locked position.”
  • Kathleen Sebelius cracked back on behalf of the Democrats, telling Daniels they had a lot in common: “We’re both Midwestern governors, we’ve both been cabinet secretaries, and neither of us is going to be president in 2012.”
(More President Obama stories.)

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