Last night, President Obama and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney set aside their contentious campaign for comedy, at the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner. Pete Dominick, host of the radio show Stand Up! on Sirius XM and a contributor to CNN, grades their performances.

While the most recent leg of the 2012 GOP campaign trail has been marked by eight vote leads, libertarian bluster, and plays to religion, it can also be defined by a lack of one key political ingredient: humor. The seriousness of all the candidates thus far has left voters on both sides of the aisle yearning for effortlessly funny former frontrunners like Bob Dole and John McCain. And, as Pete Dominick, comedian and CNN contributor has noted, boring politics makes for bad politics.