President Obama on “Letterman” (VIDEO)

By Amanda Pendolino on September 22nd, 2009

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A lot of comedians have joked that Bush leaving office was a terrible tragedy for joke writers. But with President Obama’s appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman last night, it seems that he’s a welcome addition to the comedy world.

After a long standing ovation, Obama spoke about his summer and possible racism, and even bantered with a woman in the audience who had brought a heart-shaped potato (I don’t get it either). When asked about Jimmy Carter’s statement that outbursts at the infamous townhall meetings are rooted in racism, Obama quipped, “I think it’s important to realize that I was actually black before the election.”

He continued: “And so the American people gave me this extraordinary honor, and that tells you, I think, a lot about where the country’s at. I actually think that what’s happened is whenever a president tries to bring about significant changes, particularly during times of economic unease, then there is a certain segment of the population that gets very riled up.” He noted that FDR, JFK and Ronald Regan all had similar experiences.

“This is not untypical,” Obama said. “One of the things you sign up for in politics is folks yell at you. But I think that what has been missing from the conversation is that the overwhelming majority of people, Republican or Democrat, they just want to see some common sense…I think they’re turned off by the shouting and yelling…and they expect more from their public, elected officials.”