海角大神

It was a light, throwaway moment in an otherwise dark speech that was aimed at painting Republicans 鈥� and Mitt Romney in particular 鈥� as believers in American decline, bent on destroying the social safety net.

But when President Obama tweaked Mr. Romney for using the word 鈥渕arvelous,鈥� the moment may have been telling as the two start to rumble for the fall election.

Mr. Obama noted that Romney has been supportive of the House GOP budget. 鈥淎nd he even called it 鈥榤arvelous,鈥� which is a word you don鈥檛 often hear when it comes to describing a budget,鈥� , to chuckles from his audience Tuesday at the Associated Press annual meeting. 聽

Obama paused a second, the corners of his mouth curling upward. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a word you don鈥檛 often hear generally,鈥� he smiled.聽 The audience laughed.

With that one use of 鈥渕arvelous,鈥� Obama was letting us know that he鈥檚 onto the whole 鈥淩omney as out-of-touch rich guy鈥� meme, and that we can probably expect more. 聽

Romney, of course, has set himself up for endless mockery, as he has made one 鈥渨ealth gaffe鈥� after another: His wife鈥檚 two Cadillacs. His plan (now on hold) for a car elevator in his home in La Jolla, Calif. His friendships with NASCAR and NFL team owners.

To some Republicans, such mockery in a serious policy speech was unpresidential. To Democrats, it鈥檚 red meat. Maybe next, Obama will borrow from Jon Stewart and start running campaign ads depicting Romney as Thurston Howell III. Or maybe he'll enlist鈥�

Or he could borrow from former Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry, who suggested a certain effeteness to Romney鈥檚 manner in a joke at the recent Gridiron press dinner in Washington.

"I keep waiting for him to say, 'Pardon me, do you have any Grey Poupon?鈥� " the Texas governor said.