Obama Missed, But The Show Must Go On

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger arrives at the Gridiron Club Dinner. Photo for WaPo by Dominic Bracco II They singed, but the journos didn't burn. Even though President Obama was not there to join in the fun, the 124th annual Gridiron Club Dinner went on Saturday without a hitch, some saying Vice President Biden stole the show. "Talk about the audacity of hope... President Obama does send his greetings, though. He can't be here tonight- because he's busy getting ready for Easter. He thinks it's about him," Biden opened. FBDC was the first to report that President Obama would miss the Gridiron Dinner, the first president since Grover Cleveland to skip out. "We were all very pleased with the evening. The audience was very responsive to the show, especially when Andrea Mitchell, in a bear costume, introduced the Alan Greenspan number and Bob Schieffer, wearing a big "W", sang "It's not my problem now" as George W. Bush. While we were disappointed President Obama did not come, the three speakers were all very good and each had some memorable lines," secretary of the Gridiron Club Carl Leubsdorf tells us. Speakers included Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, noting the press enthusiasm for candidate Obama, said his absence meant "he's just not that into you," and Gov. Jennifer Granholm who said that Sarah Palin "really set back the cause of hot governors. And you know where I'm coming for, Ed Rendell." More from Leubsdorf, "We were pleased when Biden stood up for the role of newspapers -- until he said the reason was "you can't house break a puppy on the internet." More highlights: "You know, I never realized just how much power Dick Cheney had until my first day on the job. I walked into my office, and you know how the outgoing president always leaves the incoming president a note in his desk? I opened my drawer and Dick Cheney had left me Barack Obama's birth certificate." -Biden "The other day there were a whole bunch of stories about the President's hair going gray; the next day there's a story about a Vice President who's trying to grow new hair, and then the day after that, the two of us come out in favor of stem cell research. That looked bad." -More Biden A Dick Cheney impersonator (in wheelchair and fishing gear) channeling Sinatra and referencing President Bush: "He did it myyy wayyy." To the tune of "Some Enchanted Evening," "Some implants and weaving: Biden's hair this evening, Hair we can believe in!" "I come from a state that has the worst unemployment in the nation.. So I know what it's like to be struggling, as some of you do, as evidenced by those skits up there." -Granholm "If I knew what he was saying, we would have been married 12 years earlier," -Mitchell on economic talk For complete coverage check out: AP, WaPo, Reliable Source, Tribune's Clarence Page's Page, Wash Times and Politico.

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Obama Missed, But The Show Must Go On

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