A day after finding himself unable or unwilling to summon any adequate retorts to Mitt Romney in the general election campaign’s first debate, President Obama finally figured out some comebacks at a rally in Denver earlier today. As the Internet gleefully noted, it’s a classic Costanzian “jerk store” moment.
He said that on stage at the first of three presidential debates, “I met this very spirited fellow who claimed to be Mitt Romney, but it couldn’t have been Mitt Romney.” That person was not “the real Mitt Romney,” the candidate who has spent the last year “promising $5 trillion in tax cuts that favor the wealthy. The fellow on stage last night said he didn’t know anything about that.” ….
“When he was asked what he’d actually do to cut the deficit and reduce spending, he said he’d eliminate funding for public television. That was his answer,” Obama said.
“I mean thank goodness somebody is finally getting tough on Big Bird. It’s about time,” he said to laughter. “We didn’t know that Big Bird was driving the federal deficit. But that’s what we heard last night. Elmo too?”
Nice lines. Too bad nobody was watching. Still better than blurting out, “Well, I had sex with your wife!” though.
