Obama's Late-Night Gutterball

During his first visit to our most populous state as president, Barack Obama took a chance going on 'Late Night with Jay Leno,' which draws 5 million viewers every evening.

And while Obama's appearance displayed great comic timing in delivering several funny jokes as well as serious analysis of the nation's current economic woes, the president could find himself in a little hot water for an offhand remark about the Special Olympics, the athletic competition for the mentally and physically challenged. ...

The joke drew chuckles from the studio audience, but it will surely draw rebuke from those who believe Obama was making fun of Special Olympics participants.

Representatives of the competition have a point. It isn't cool for the president to even playfully make that statement in front of such a mammoth audience. The White House put out a statement before the taping even aired, insisting that the president didn't intend to make fun of the games' participants.

Anyone with an ounce of sense knows Obama's intention was not to make fun of the physically challenged but to make fun of himself. But that's the risk one takes when trying to be funny in front of an audience. We've all seen it before at family gatherings, office parties and the like.

This will all probably work out to the benefit of the Special Olympics in the long run. Obama obviously has a very busy schedule, right? How much would you like to bet he will find time to be at the opening ceremony for the next major Special Olympics event? And I wouldn't be surprised if you see our president cutting a public service announcement for the charity sometime soon that will likely be viewed by an audience far larger than Jay Leno's.

Don't be surprised if Obama's little late-night gaffe turns out to be a nice pick-me-up for the Special Olympics and its supporters.

Paul Shepard blogs the Democrat side of politics for Black Voices. He has been a journalist for 16 years: on the national urban/minority affairs beat for the Cleveland Plain Dealer and for AP in Washington, D.C. He now runs his own public affairs firm, Shepard Strategic Communications.