Boo! It's George Bush

(EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images)

HIGHLAND, Ind. -- The crowd waiting for Barack Obama tonight at a park in Highland, near Chicago, had to suffer through a couple flat Halloween-themed jokes from the opening acts. But Barack Obama got off a pretty good one when he finally took the microphone.

Obama, addressing a crowd of more than 40,000, explained that his daughters -- Sasha, 7, and Malia, 10 -- always have trouble deciding what to be for Halloween.

"But John McCain didn't have that problem," he said. "Just like every year, he's going as George W. Bush."

He couldn't resist a self-satisfied chuckle.

Earlier in the day, Obama went home for a few hours to celebrate the holiday with his family, heading with Sasha to a friend's house. At one point he became annoyed at the media for trailing him.

For the record, Sasha went as a "corpse bride" this year, and Malia went as an evil fairy. No word yet on the candy haul.