Transcript, video: Mitt Romney jokes at the Alfred E. Smith dinner (Hilarious!)

Chicago Sun-Times ^ | 10/18/2012 | Craig Newman

[ETL]

I don’t think he said “white tie and refinery.” LOL

He did say it. But I think he meant it as in "refine"...

Refine:

"to purify from what is coarse, vulgar, or debasing; [to] make elegant or cultured."

" to become more fine, elegant, or polished".

"to make fine distinctions in thought or language."

It may also been a jab of the lack of oil refineries in the US due to various liberal policies.

[madameguinot]

Ha! Great! Mitt nailed it!

[AKA Elena]

I see someone gave the link to Obummer's speech ... he did NOT get either the laughs or the applause, but if you watch it he did have a couple of good lines.

Chris Matthews directly behind him thought he was hilarious, but I think it should have been an embarrassment to Obama and a clue to him that at least some of the Catholics, know he is an enemy and he received tepid and polite responses.

[ETL]

“Dines” was clear to me.

I thought at first listen he said "Dies", but just now listening again, it does sound more like "Dines".

At 7:15 into clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBelIMrKll8

Transcript has "Dies". Conceivable could have meant "dies" comedically, if that's a word. :) Not important. Romney scored big time in every respect, great lines, great delivery, great political points.

Transcript: "And I’ve already seen early reports from tonight’s dinner, headline; 'Obama Embraced by Catholics. Romney Dies with Rich People.'..."

[Gator113]

Where was Michelle?

[ETL]

I just heard it again. He said “FINERY”.

“...as President Obama surveys the Waldorf banquet room with everyone in white tie and refinery [finery], you have to wonder what he’s thinking. So little time, so much to redistribute.”

Definition of FINERY: ornament, decoration; especially, dressy or showy clothing and jewels:

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/finery

[Nea Wood]

Yeah, I figured he must have meant “finery,” and I wondered if he misspoke or if the transcriber was just trying to make him look dumb.

[MichaelCorleone]

He certainly looked Presidential to me.

[boxlunch]

"Romney will go in for the final kill at the next debate" I sure hope you're right - with that jerk Shieffer running things, it might be tough, but he's got to pound Benghazi, and he's got to work in Fast & Furious, and most importantly he's got to tie them together: one F-up is bad; two starts to look like a pattern. And they tie together easily in the following ways - each involves a cover-up (continual stalling, evasion, calls for patience during "investigations"); each involves loss of life (and Mitt needs to emphasize the *scores* of dead Mexicans lost due to the regime's stupidity); and each is characterized by a total lack of accountability (Holder and Napolitano didn't pay any price for F&F; Hilary and Intelligence haven't paid any price for Libya). If he handles those issues adroitly, he can bury BO, who may soil himself in the process of getting slammed in public. ----------------------------------------------------------- I agree, especially with pointing out how casually Obama and his regime have responded regarding the hundreds of Mexicans, as well as our border patrol agents, who died. Not everyone understands the whole plan of what the Justice Dept was trying to accomplish in taking away 2nd amendment rights, but they can understand that hundreds died and its been covered up.

[Maryhere]

Romney was really very humorous and delivered the lines well. He came across as a human being who was enjoying himself and wanting to entertain the audience. Obama came across as stilted and strained in his trying to be funny. He acted as though he wanted to be anywhere else.

[RoosterRedux]

Obama just can’t hide his intense arrogance. It is particularly apparent when he is on stage or near Mitt, who is a humble man.

[RikaStrom]

ping per our conversation

[dennisw]

I don’t think enough people will see Mitt’s bofo performance at the Al Smith dinner. But I am calling it the fourth debate because we got him unfiltered. Undefined by an enemy media

So...my hope is that many saw it live and get to see it via youtube and C-Spans archive which is where I re-viewed it. Sean Hannity show (Fox) cut into it live otherwise I would have been oblivious until I saw free republic the next day

[dennisw]

You get it exactly. Mitt turned his Saul Alinsky guns ridicule guns right on 0. From that same era, Bob Dylan was prescient and said to the choomster mocha messiah>>>

Aw, you’ve gone to the finest school all right, Miss Lonely,
But you know you only used to get “juiced” in it.

[AFPhys]

I agree with you.

Romney’s delivery was truly practiced; great comedic timing. Obama seemed rather stilted, although he really did have some great delivery during the two times he really smacked Joe Biden. Somehow, I am thinking he considers Biden to be a bit of a millstone around his neck nowadays...

Anyway, I have to go take a look at what FReepers were thinking about it while they watched the live thread: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2946936/posts