Mitt Romney, the jokester?

Mitt Romney, official portrait.

Having lived in Michigan around the time (1963) that George Romney was elected governor, I continue to feel an affinity toward the Romney family, including Mitt. (It’s okay to like someone with whom you disagree.) So it was with some amusement and pleasure this morning that I read the Caucus (NY Times) report on the lighter side of the struggling GOP candidate. Michael Barbaro writes:

KALAMAZOO, Mich. — He riffed on the space program. He hammed it up over the housing market. He even cracked wise about burial plots.

Mitt Romney may be known as a hyper-scripted, ever-so-careful public speaker, but on Friday night, during an appearance at Western Michigan University, he was something else entirely: a deft and genuinely funny jokester.

Below, a sampling of his stabs at humor from the event:

On his father’s frugality:

“My parents’ grave sites are there in Brighton. My dad — trust my dad. My dad is a very frugal man. And he checked all over for where the best deal was on a grave site. And he found a place in Brighton — because we didn’t live in Brighton. It’s like, ‘how did you pick Brighton, Dad?’ ‘Well, best price I could find in the whole state.’ So if you’re looking for the best deal on a grave site, check Brighton, they got a good, got a good spot, and you’re near the former governor and the former first lady.”

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