Laura Bush Shows Flair For Comedy

Posted on May 2, 2005

Laura Bush's speech at the White House Correspondents Association Dinner Saturday night was a big hit. Her timing and delivery were perfect as she gently teased the president, in the tradition of the event.

Ladies and gentlemen, I've been attending these dinners for years and just quietly sitting there. Well, I've got a few things I want to say for a change.
This is going to be fun because he really doesn't have a clue about what I'm gonna' to say next. George always says he's delighted to come to these press dinners. Baloney. He's usually in bed by now.
I'm not kidding.
I said to him the other day, "George, if you really want to end tyranny in the world, you're going to have to stay up later."
I am married to the president of the United States, and here's our typical evening: Nine o'clock, Mr. Excitement here is sound asleep, and I'm watching Desperate Housewives� with Lynne Cheney. Ladies and gentlemen, I am a desperate housewife. I mean, if those women on that show think they're desperate, they oughta be with George.
One night, after George went to bed, Lynne Cheney, Condi Rice, Karen Hughes and I went to Chippendale's. I wouldn't even mention it except Ruth Ginsberg and Sandra Day O'Connor saw us there. I won't tell you what happened, but Lynne's Secret Service codename is now "Dollar Bill."
But George and I are complete opposites � I'm quiet, he's talkative, I'm introverted, he's extroverted, I can pronounce nuclear �

You can read the speech here.

The president's poll numbers are sinking like lead weights in water, so Rove pulls out Laura Bush. She's popular and makes the president seem like a good sport, and the public loved it. And that's smart politics.