Hoyer knew he had his work cut out for him, he said. When it came time, he felt a little nervous. The jokes were good, "but the issue, of course, is whether you deliver well."
Everyone was aware he had been handicapped by a lack of preparation, so expectations were a little lower. President Bush, on the other hand, had gone through three rehearsals with backup singers who helped him sing "Brown, Brown Grass of Home," a variation of an old hit by Tom Jones.
In his speech, Hoyer said he felt like a pinch hitter in baseball, but joked that if he hit a home run, California Rep. Henry A. Waxman, scourge of steroids users in sports, would bring him in for a hearing on suspicion of juicing.
"I'm Dick Gephardt without the charisma," he said, comparing himself unfavorably with a predecessor as House Democratic leader, whose presidential candidacy was hampered by a less-than-electric personality.
"If things don't go well tonight," he added, "don't blame me, blame the author of my speech, Deval Patrick." That zinger, which poked fun at accusations that Sen. Barack Obama had lifted portions of a speech given by Patrick, the Massachusetts governor, had been made earlier in the night. But it went over well nonetheless.
Hoyer closed with a riff on another refrain that has penetrated the presidential campaign: the 3 a.m. phone call bringing bad news of a terrorist attack or worse.
"It's 3 a.m., there's a phone ringing in the White House," he said. "There's a world crisis. But nobody can answer it, cause they are stuck at the Gridiron dinner."
Chuckling about his performance last night, Hoyer said that was his favorite line.
The rest of the material, which won him rousing applause, had come together just before the dinner, he said, adding:
"Sometimes, it just clicks."
bradley.olson@baltsun.com
The Chicago Tribune contributed to this article.
