Someone’s a third wheel at this party
Photo © 2012 AFP/AAP/Saul Loeb
US President Barack Obama marked his 20th wedding anniversary by squaring off against rival Mitt Romney in their first debate -- and First Lady Michelle was less than thrilled.
"I told Barack, 'This, you know, attending a presidential debate on my 20th anniversary is probably the worst way for me to spend (it),'" Michelle Obama told CNN in an interview that aired shortly before the two candidates took to the podiums in Denver, Colorado.
"I get so nervous at these debates," she said. "I would not have chosen this, but I'm excited about it."
The president marked the anniversary by sending a romantic tweet to the first lady -- and to his 20 million followers on Twitter.
"Twenty years ago today, I married the love of my life and my best friend. Happy anniversary, Michelle. -bo" read the message sent by Obama from his @BarackObama Twitter account.
Later, as the high-stakes debate opened in Denver, Obama turned romantic once again.
"A lot of points I want to make tonight, but the most important one is that 20 years ago, I became the luckiest man on Earth because Michelle Obama agreed to marry me," the president said.
Then, turning to his wife, he said: "I want to wish you happy anniversary, and a year from now, we won't celebrate it in front of 40 million people."
The Obamas were married on October 3, 1992. But with the critically important first debate taking place on Wednesday, dinner by candlelight was not on the cards for the first couple.
The showdown comes just 33 days before American voters go the polls on November 6, and was being held at the University of Denver.
Obama has said that he and Michelle will push back their anniversary celebration until the weekend.
The first lady declined to offer a critique of her husband.
"I really would probably be the worst person to assess his style or his techniques," she told CNN.
"There are the rules, and you don't want to clap ... So I'm just trying to make sure I'm following the rules."
Michelle Obama and Ann Romney were both on hand in Denver for the debate, and the two women shared a brief embrace shortly before the event began.
To make the Obamas' anniversary even worse, Governor Romney was largely considered to have won the debate, with 46% of CBS’s panel of 523 uncommitted voters awarding Romney the win against 22% for Mr Obama.
But on social media, the talking point was Big Bird. Romney said he planned to cut subsidies to the Public Broadcasting System, which broadcasts long-running children’s favourite Sesame Street.
“I love Big Bird,” declared Romney.
“But I’m not going to keep on spending money on things to borrow money from China to pay for it.”
The Twitter handle FiredBigBird was quickly created and had amassed over 13,000 followers by the end of the debate.
with AFP
