Watch Mitt Romney's joke about Obama: Funny and effective?
Campaigning in Iowa for Republican senate candidate Joni Ernst, Mitt Romney took aim at President Obama with a humorous jab.
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Barack Obama walks into a bank.
So begins a zinger Mitt Romney let loose Sunday while campaigning for GOP Iowa聽Senate candidate Joni Ernst, who is locked in a tight race with Democratic U.S.聽Rep. Bruce Braley. The two are competing for the seat held by retiring five-term聽Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin.
"They say if you're running for office you shouldn't tell jokes. But I'm not running for聽office,鈥� Romney told the crowd in Iowa.聽
And thank goodness. Mitt the civilian is a lot funnier than Mitt the candidate.聽
Need proof? Here鈥檚 his joke, in full:
President Obama went to the bank to cash a check and he didn't have his ID. And聽the teller said, 'You've got to prove who you are.'
He said, 'How should I do that?' She said, 'the other day Phil Mickelson came in, he聽didn't have his ID but he set up a little cup on the ground, took a golf ball, putted it聽right into that cup so they knew it was Phil Mickelson. We cashed his check.
And then Andre Agassi came in. And Andre Agassi didn't have his ID either. He put聽a little target on the wall, took a tennis ball and racquet 鈥� hit it onto that target聽time and again. We knew that was Andre Agassi so we cashed his check.
And she said to him, 'Is there anything you can do to prove who you are?' And聽[Obama] said, 'I don't have a clue.'
And she said, 'Well, Mr. President, do you want your money in small bills or large聽bills?'
If the joke is any indication, the two-time presidential candidate has loosened up聽considerably since his campaign days when he was often described as 鈥渞obotic鈥� and聽鈥渦ptight.鈥澛�
鈥淢itt Romney looks like a guy modeling briefs on a package of underwear,鈥� David聽Letterman joked on CBS鈥檚 "Late Show with David Letterman" in 2012. 鈥淗e looks like聽a guy who goes to the restroom when the check comes...He looks like a guy who聽would run a seminar on condo flipping ... He looks like that guy on the golf course in聽the Levitra commercial.鈥�
That reputation, of course, made the former Mass. Governor an easy target for many聽comics during the last election season, when he was the frequent butt, rather than聽source, of some funny jokes.
Like this zinger from Letterman circa 2012.聽鈥淭hey say that Paul Ryan will humanize Romney. And I thought, hell, an amoeba聽could humanize Romney.鈥�
And while Obama was the butt of Romney鈥檚 joke Sunday in Iowa, it turns out聽Romney himself has been comic gold.
Romney jokes on late-night TV outpaced Obama jokes 2-1 during the last election聽cycle, according to a George Mason study, as .聽It turns out it鈥檚 a lot easier to make fun of a straight-laced, beer-snubbing Mormon聽with offshore accounts and a stunning tax rate than the nation's first black president. And, as the article notes, most comedians share the same political perspective as Obama.聽
But that doesn't make the president completely immune from Letterman pokes. Take this one from October 2013:
"Obama said they've had some glitches with the Affordable Care website. I'll tell you something. If you order a pair of pants online and they send you the wrong color, that's a glitch. This is like a Carnival cruise, for God's sake! Today Obama was in so much trouble he called Hillary Clinton and he said, 'Could you start early?'"聽
Joking aside, might Romney鈥檚 Obama joke hurt the President, or help the Republican聽candidate, Joni Ernst, who鈥檚 locked in the closest Senate race in the nation where no incumbent is running, according to public opinion polls?聽
In fact, it might.
鈥淲hen jokes are made 鈥� particularly about a political figure, or a party, or a聽process, or an institution 鈥� people鈥檚 perceptions or opinions of the target of the聽joke go down,鈥� Jody Baumgartner, a political science professor at East Carolina聽University who studies the impact of political humor, . 鈥淪o it does matter. It absolutely聽matters.鈥�
In other words, the next time Obama walks into a bank, he鈥檇 better have his ID with聽him.聽
And that鈥檚 no joke.