US presidential rivals trade traditional election banter

Barack Obama joked that he was Superman and had been sent to save planet Earth as he joined his Republican rival John McCain at a high-profile political dinner in New York.

The Illinois senator also mocked his own acceptance speech at the Democratic Party’s national convention, which he delivered before a crowd of tens of thousands at an outdoor stadium on an elaborately-constructed stage.

And Mr McCain joked that he had replaced his team of senior advisers with “Joe the plumber”, a key figure in Wednesday night’s debate, and claimed he could “feel” the support of Mr Obama’s former rival Hillary Clinton, who was in the audience.

Both candidates delivered their light-hearted speeches at the annual Al Smith dinner in New York, which raised an estimated $4m (€3m) for a series of Catholic charities.

“Contrary to the rumours you have heard, I was not born in a manger,” Mr Obama said. “I was actually born on Krypton and sent here by my father, Jor-el, to save the planet Earth.”

Referring to the dinner, he said he was “originally told we’d be able to move this outdoors to Yankee Stadium”.

Pausing and looking around, he added: “Could somebody tell me what happened to the Greek columns that I requested?”

Mr McCain joked that Democrats had already begun attacking “Joe the plumber”, the Ohio man whom he referred to in the final presidential debate, and claimed “that this honest, hardworking small businessman could not possibly have enough income to face a tax increase under the Obama plan”.

Mr Obama’s plan would mean higher taxes for anyone earning over $250,000 (€186,000).

“What they don’t know is that Joe the plumber recently signed a very lucrative contract with a wealthy couple to handle all the work on all seven of their houses,” Mr McCain added, drawing laughter with the reference to his property holdings.

Turning to his rival’s former opponent, Mr McCain said: “Even in this room full of proud Manhattan Democrats, I can’t shake the feeling that some people here are pulling for me...I’m delighted to see you here tonight, Hillary.”

Mocking his own actions as he suspended his campaign to deal with the economic crisis as it engulfed the US, Mr McCain said Mr Obama was “ready for any contingency, even the possibility of a sudden and dramatic market rebound”.

“I’m told that at the first sign of a recovery, he will suspend his campaign and fly immediately to Washington to address the crisis,” the 72-year-old Arizona senator said.

The evening of humour came after the liveliest and most contentious debate between the two men to date and, just 18 days before the election, both candidates closed by complimenting the other.

Mr McCain praised Mr Obama for his “great skill, energy, and determination. “It’s not for nothing that he’s inspired so many folks in his own party and beyond,” he said. “I can’t wish my opponent luck but I do wish him well.”

Mr Obama said few Americans had served their country with “the same honour and distinction” as Mr McCain, a former Navy pilot who was a prisoner of war for more than five years in Vietnam.

Appearing at the dinner – which is held in honour of Al Smith, the former governor of New York who was the first Catholic to be nominated by a major political party to run for US president – is a tradition for US presidential nominees.

Although unsuccessful, many historians believe Mr Smith’s presidential bid paved the way for the candidacy of president John F Kennedy.

Yesterday, Mr Obama warned his supporters not to “get carried away” by his lead over Mr McCain in the national polls.

The Democrat said he had been favoured before but ended up “getting spanked”, in New Hampshire, where he lost to Mrs Clinton in the state’s primary election.

Less than three weeks before the election, Mr Obama has established a double-digit lead over Mr McCain in a series of recent polls and most political pundits decided he won all three debates between the two presidential candidates, including the final one in New York by a clear margin.

He sounded more optimistic about his White House chances than he has on previous occasions but warned anyone against becoming “cocky” and said he had: “two words for you – New Hampshire”.

“I’ve been in these positions before where we were favoured and the press starts getting carried away, and we end up getting spanked,” he said.

Mr Obama said his rival did not understand that Americans want to hear about solutions to their economic problems, not political attacks.