President Obama kicked things off right by flubbing the name of Buffalo’s mayor in a speech he made at a university in which he said the name of their congressman in its place. The crowd called out to him to correct the mistake, and he soon realized they error of his ways.
“Your outstanding mayor, Brian Higgins, is here. Give him a big round of applause,” said Obama. But that wasn’t him. The crowd soon set him straight, after which he said, “What? Byron Brown. I’m sorry Byron. What I meant to say was your congressman Brian Higgins is here, your mayor Byron Brown is here.”
Not too shamefaced over the gaffe, the president joked, “This is what happens when you get to be 52 years old. When I was 51 everything was smooth.”
After dozens of Bushisms, which were in their way quite charming — though nobody could out-Quayle the Quayle — hearing Obama trip up over his words is a bit refreshing in a way. His speech is part of a tour to speak at campuses about a government rating system for colleges and universities. The system is to assess schools regarding their affordability and their performance. Despite a little slip at the start, the tour looks to be promising.