Patrick HirigoyenPatrick Hirigoyen

If Thursday night’s Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner is any indication, our two presidential candidates share a needed room for improvement in one important category: humor.

“Room for improvement” may be an understatement. Based on his performance at the event, Donald Trump would receive a grade of F. Several of his “jokes” not only fell flat, but were embarrassing to those at the event and others watching on TV.

Hillary Clinton, by comparison, did better, but even she couldn’t avoid throwing some barbs at her opponent, as well as at someone who isn’t even running. Clinton’s grade: C.

The dinner is a glitzy, formal event held every four years by the Archdiocese of New York to raise money for Catholic Charities. Named for the first Roman Catholic to be nominated by a major party for President, it’s an occasion for the candidates to come together in a spirit of camaraderie, joke about themselves and enjoy the evening not as partisans, but as Americans.

In recent years, candidates have made the occasion a memorable campaign high point. See: John McCain (2008), Mitt Romney (2012), and Barack Obama (2008 and 2012).

But not this time. When they could have to inserted some humor and respect into what has been a dispiriting campaign, Trump and Clinton still resorted to partisan — even cheap — personal attacks.

Crossing lines

First, let’s recognize some lines that did show a mature sense of humor. Trump:

“You know, Cardinal Dolan and I have some things in common. For instance, we both run impressive properties on Fifth Avenue. Of course, his is much more impressive than mine. That’s because I built mine with my own [pause] beautifully formed [longer pause] hands.”

“Michelle Obama gives a speech and everyone loves it, it’s fantastic. They think she’s absolutely great. My wife Melania [as Trump said this, the camera showed her shaking her head and smiling, clearly in on the joke] gives the exact same speech, and people get on her case.”

“Hillary accidentally bumped into me, and she very civilly said ‘pardon me.’ [Pauses as many in the room laughed]. And I very politely replied, let me talk to you about that once I get into office.”

The last one started to cross the line from self-deprecating to sniping, but the room laughed, and if he’d stopped there, he would’ve been okay.

In her remarks, Clinton also brought some very funny lines:

“This is such a special event that I took a break from my rigorous nap schedule to be here.”

“As you’ve already heard, it’s a treat for all of you, too, because usually I charge a lot for speeches like this.”

“Now I’ve just got to say, there are a lot of friendly faces here in this room. People I’ve been privileged to know and work with. I just want to put you in a ‘basket of adorables.’”

But she, too, couldn’t resist attacking her opponent:

“Because this is a friendly dinner for such a great cause, Donald, if at any time you don’t like what I’m saying, feel free to stand up and shout ‘Wrong!’ while I’m talking.”

“Come to think of it, it’s amazing I’m up here after Donald. I didn’t think he’d be OK with a peaceful transition of power.”

“And Donald, after listening to your speech, I will also enjoy listening to Mike Pence deny you ever gave it.”

It should be pointed out that, through these jokes, Trump continued to smile, but at the next quip Clinton, too, started to lose the room:

“People look at the Statue of Liberty and they see a proud symbol of our history as a nation of immigrants… Donald looks at the Statue of Liberty and sees a ‘four,’ [here, the groans started], maybe a “five” if she loses the torch and tablet and changes her hair.”

And, without any need or reason, Clinton took an entirely unnecessary swipe at former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who was at the dinner:

“Many don’t know this but Rudy actually got his start as a prosecutor going after wealthy New Yorkers who avoided paying taxes. But as the saying goes, if you can’t beat him, go on Fox News and call him a genius.”

Giuliani didn’t smile at that one. Based on the crowd reaction, many in the room weren’t amused either.

How to “bomb”

As news reports have highlighted, Trump’s turn at the lectern included snipes that not only weren’t funny, but elicited boos and catcalls:

“Hillary is so corrupt she got kicked off the Watergate commission [stunned silence, followed by some boos].”

“We’ve learned so much from Wikileaks. For example, Hillary believes it’s vital to deceive the people by having one public policy and a totally different policy in private [more boos].”

“For example, here she is tonight, in public, pretending not to hate Catholics [even louder boos and shouts from the crowd].”

Comedy club audiences have a term for Trump’s performance: he bombed.

Comics will tell you that it isn’t easy to be funny. Speechwriters acknowledge how difficult it can be to write humor that effectively suits an occasion, audience or speaker.

But I would suggest that humor may be the most underrated leadership quality today, especially among politicians. Presidents who have possessed a good sense of humor have employed it to disarm opponents, gain voter support and earn wide respect.

Presidential humor takes many forms. For some, it has been displayed in intelligent wit; for example, Franklin Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan.

For others, it’s through self-deprecation. This, in fact, may be the most powerful form of presidential humor: it shows the voters that you’re not arrogant, but a humble human being people can admire and identify with.

Along with Romney, McCain and Obama, others with this talent have included Al Gore and the Presidents Bush (both George H.W. as well as George W.). All of them pale in comparison to the master of self-deprecating presidential humor, Abraham Lincoln.

The Al Smith dinner is a highly visible, much-anticipated opportunity for the presidential candidates to display that quality. The ones who have done so have shown how humor can help bridge the political divide that hobbles our country today.

Sadly, both of this year’s candidates failed in that regard. As a result, they not only brought embarrassment and discomfort to those at the event, but also let down the voters, who crave leaders who can display confidence, optimism, hope and even joy.

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Patrick Hirigoyen, APR, is Principal of The Hirigoyen Group, a public relations and communications consulting firm. He provides senior management counsel in public relations strategies and tactics; his clients have included a variety of financial and professional services firms. Additional information is at www.thehirigoyengroup.com.