Obama Pokes Fun at His Political Future, Fame

In one of his first big postelection appearances in the nation’s capital, Sen.-elect Barack Obama lampooned his own celebrity status and the speculation that he had a future run for the White House on his mind.

Speaking before the Gridiron Club on Saturday night, the Illinois Democrat used humor to deal with the political fame that has come his way, including appearances on national television shows and big spreads in national magazines.

“I figure there’s nowhere to go from here but down,” he said. “So tonight, I’m announcing my retirement from the United States Senate.”

He also raised up a mock National Enquirer headline declaring “Obama’s Shocking Secret: He’s Strom Thurmond’s Love Child.”

And he added, “I’m so overexposed that I make Paris Hilton look like a recluse.”

Obama and Republican Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, both rising stars in their parties, entertained journalists attending the winter dinner of a club noted for satirizing politicians. Both men also got on stage briefly with Gridiron members to sing a humorous number about the last election.

Noting that the Boston Globe saw their joint appearance at the dinner as a kickoff for the 2008 presidential election, Romney quipped, “That’s ridiculous. That began on Nov. 3.” The governor said one potential GOP rival, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, would be too old in 2008 and Vice President Dick Cheney would be ineligible, because by then he would have run the country for eight years.

Obama also used the word “ridiculous” in response to speculation that he would run for president in 2008. He mockingly told Romney to “go for it.”

“I hear that Massachusetts is a great launching pad,” he said, referring to Sen. John F. Kerry’s loss in the presidential election this year.

“It’s not easy signing autographs and saying no to 2008 a thousand times a day,” Obama said. “The president said it was hard work doing that kind of stuff.”

The senator-elect teased about his big victory over GOP candidate Alan Keyes, saying that he received 70% of the vote statewide “and 102% in Chicago. Our voting system is so advanced that the folks in Florida are coming up to study it.”

He said Illinois and Chicago were ahead of the times. Referring to the fact that House Republicans had passed a rule allowing leaders to stay in their jobs even if indicted, he said, “we had that years ago” in Illinois.