I think that Obama is very cool. And I think he’s clever, and I think he can be witty. But I don’t think he’s funny in either the way that Reagan was funny - or John McCain and Dick Cheney are both funny in that ruthless, kind of mean way.

Rocca distinguishes between different registers of humor in political life. He grants Barack Obama charisma (“cool”), intelligence (“clever”), and verbal dexterity (“witty”), but argues that these qualities don’t amount to being “funny” in the performative, crowd-winning sense associated with Ronald Reagan’s practiced comic timing. He also contrasts Obama with the sharper, more cutting humor he attributes to John McCain and Dick Cheney—humor that lands through ruthlessness and a willingness to be mean. The quote implies that political humor is not a single trait but a toolkit: warmth and charm, polished showmanship, and aggressive one-liners function differently in public persuasion and media performance.