President Obama and Mitt Romney attended the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation dinner in New York City last night and both gave speeches which happened to coincide with the broadcast of The Rachel Maddow Show. Evidently, Mitt Romney didn't understand the type of speech he was supposed to give because he was too rigid and unable to relax enough to poke much fun at himself. Romney used President Obama as the punch line for too many of his jokes; eight compared to three used by President Obama with Mitt Romney as the punch line.

I have to say, considering the fact that the final debate on Monday night will be about foreign policy, I think this line, especially the part I have put in bold, was President Obama's best line.



Monday’s debate is a little bit different because the topic is foreign policy. Spoiler alert: We got bin Laden. (Laughter and applause.) Of course, world affairs are a challenge for every candidate. After -- some of you guys remember, after my foreign trip in 2008, I was attacked as a celebrity because I was so popular with our allies overseas. And I have to say, I’m impressed with how well Governor Romney has avoided that problem. (Laughter and applause.)

During a particularly bitchy session of Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, David Cameron and the Labour leader Ed Miliband volleyed slurs on each other’s character and record in front of a packed, jeering chamber. Miliband, Cameron said, was “incompetent.” Cameron, Miliband replied, was “desperate.” It was fairly feeble stuff—“Yo Momma” for posh wonks—until Miliband, even before he said it, betrayed that he had the best line coming with a smirk of anticipatory relish. “So, Mr. Speaker,” he said, “we’re all keen to hear the Prime Minister’s view as to why he thinks, four weeks on from the budget, even people within Downing Street are calling it an ‘omnishambles’ budget.” It was, as The New Statesman noted, the first recorded use in the House of Commons of “omnishambles.” The insult of the week, it derives from the British political sitcom “The Thick of It,” a creation of Armando Iannucci, the subject of a recent Profile by Ian Parker. (Iannucci has a new show, “Veep,” set in Washington, D.C., beginning tonight on HBO.) On the show, a brilliantly slanderous Scotsman named Malcolm Tucker tells a claustrophobic co-worker who balks at using an elevator, “Jesus Christ, you’re like a fucking Omnishambles, you are. You’re like that coffee machine, you know? From bean to cup, you fuck up.” And You, Sir, Are an Omnishambles

I know it seems like a lifetime ago in this presidential race that seems like it's been going on forever, but how can anybody forget what a fiasco Romney's overseas visit was this summer? Seriously. I remember writing a diary in July about Harry Reid saying that Mitt Romney had embarrassed the United States, and himself, by going to London and insulting the British. And who can have already forgotten that the Brits gave us the hashtag #RomneyShambles , which is still alive and well on Twitter and was based upon a running joke in Britain called Omnishambles?I think it was absolutely brilliant of President Obama to mention Romney's terrible overseas trip just days before the debate about foreign policy and remind everybody about how Romney embarrassed himself on that trip. And also reminding people about how successful a similar trip was for President Obama in 2008. That coupled with the fact that President Obama pointed out that Romney's attempt to politicize the deaths in Benghazi was "offensive" during the most recent debate, and I'm looking forward to a brilliant debate on Monday night.

The New York Times has an overall summary of the two speeches that said they were equally good. The Washington Post also has a rundown. Both articles mention President Obama's bringing up Romney's disastrous trip overseas. Oh, and Al Smith trended on Twitter last night. Of course, right wingers claimed that Mitt Romney gave a brilliant performance. Other people; not so much.

This Al Smith dinner perfectly shows why Obama is so well liked and Romney is not. — Ellen Brodsky (@NewsHoundEllen) October 19, 2012

Just now getting to the Al Smith dinner -- Romney really didn't quite get the self-deprecating piece of this. Sort of funny but mostly petty — Bill Burton (@billburton716) October 19, 2012

If you missed the speeches at the Al Smith dinner tonight, take a peek below the fleur-de-orange where both are posted courtesy of The Rachel Maddow Show. Romney spoke first, but I gave President Obama the top billing he deserves.