reporter: have long come together for a night of comedy and comity. the annual al smith dinner in new york has drawn presidents and aspiring ones. in years gone by, there s far more self-deprecating satire. this is an impressive crowd. the haves and the have-mores. some people call you the elite. i call you my base. reporter: then score-settling. i can t shake that feeling that some people here are pulling for me. i m delighted to see you here tonight, hillary. the white tie dinner, a benefit for catholic charities, has often provided relief from the rancor of the campaign trail, like this exchange in that epic race 16 years ago. one of my favorite shows is who wants to be a
candidates. jeff zeleny looks back. it s a ritual stop on the road to the white house. a place where democrats i went shopping at some stores in midtown. i understand governor romney went shopping for some stores in midtown. and republicans. it s nice to finally relax and to wear what ann and i wear around the house. reporter: have long come together for a night of comedy and comity. the annual al smith dinner in new york has drawn presidents and aspiring ones. in years gone by, there s far more self-deprecating satire. this is an impressive crowd. the haves and the have-mores. some people call you the elite. i call you my base. reporter: then score-settling. i can t shake that feeling that some people here are pulling for me.
that they did it to us, exactly. and it s the third thursday in october, always. and the men wear white ties. basically men there, frankly. the last place that the two candidates are in the same room before the election, right? yeah. and i m sure you ve been to 150 of them, haven t you? they re all great. when he took a shot at me, mccain. you were there? he was very funny. the one that was kind of famous was when mondale didn t go, because he was prepping and then, of course, reagan went and won. so, you know, what a reagan v. carter. i hate to say, i was a speechwriter for carter. i ve got to tell you, basel, i like jokes if they re told by people i can t agree with. w. came in there, that same speech and said, i want to thank, the bases are here tonight, the haves and have-mores. and i remember the mccain speech. it was a great speech.
well, i ll tell you what, scott, once you crush these bastards, i ll fly you out to cali and really show you a good time. all right, that would be outstanding. yeah, that would be outstanding if i deliver for my billionaire donors. and now you remember who their real constituency is, right? this is an impressive crowd, the haves and the have-mores. some people call you the elite. i call you my base. well, that right there is the truth. it turns out now in wisconsin the battle is joined the people versus the money. title fight, round three. joining me now is ohio congresswoman marcie captor. good evening. you see the republican attack ads coming for the democrats. and they re being honest about it to the point they re going to say look, we re going to come in with all this money. they spent $750,000 on that ad