Pretty in pink and for a cause
(CNN) - Michelle Obama and Ann Romney's dresses drew attention at Tuesday's presidential debate first for their color, and second for the statement they may have made.
While their husbands clashed spectacularly onstage, Obama's and Romney's dresses bore more in common than one might expect of people with their two last names.
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Both showed up in vibrant pink - which is the color of the breast cancer awareness effort, and October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
President Barack Obama may have been in on the occasion, too. His suit was black, shirt was white, and tie was red, but tucked up his right sleeve was a pink wristband. He wore the wristband at a campaign event on Wednesday, and in early October, issued a proclamation saying in October "we honor those we have lost, lend our strength to those who carry on the fight, and pledge to educate ourselves and our loved ones about this tragic disease."
Michelle Obama wore her knee and sleeved length pink dress with a matching pink jacket and a pearl necklace. An Obama campaign official said the color was in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Ann Romney topped her short-sleeved dress with an emerald necklace. She is a survivor of early stage breast cancer.
A spokeswoman for Romney's campaign did not return CNN's request for comment on whether Ann Romney's wardrobe selections were a nod to Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
But some on social media weighed in regardless.
[tweet htts://twitter.com/franklingraves/status/258552175976914944]
Anisa Cottrell Willis wrote on Facebook, "Among the scandals of last night....the First Lady and Ms Romney in the exact same color Barbie pink dresses."
[tweet https://twitter.com/cheIvan91/status/258489990412128258%5D
Will the two spouses sport similar shades in the same room again? They'll have an opportunity next Monday, at the third presidential debate in Boca Raton, Florida.
- CNN's Kevin Liptak and Gregory Wallace contributed to this report
I also noticed that the picture of Ann above shows that she does NOT have a "good" side. Michelle, on the other hand, is breathtaking at any angle.
@ed1
The Obama's came from good families with good jobs? I won't argue the good families part of your comment, but they certainly did not come from families where paying the bills wasn't an issue each month. Grants and school loans were their only chance to get the education they strove for.......their families could not have paid the freight for their degrees. Unlike the Romney's, who have been pampered their entire lives and had no concerns about how to pay for college. Get real ed1.
@Critical Thinking
Let's see, Anne wore pink to celebrate her support and success with beating breast cancer.
Michele wore pink to score some points.
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It takes a "special" kind of person to speak out against the First Lady when she's making a statement about fighting breast cancer. Of course the NASCAR event where she and Dr. Biden were booed as they were promoting a charity for families of Wounded Warriors was filled with the same "special" people. Hell will be filled with some same people – the sooner the better.
NEWSFLASH: Ann Romney is NOT the only woman to have fought breast cancer.
Now I know the morons supporting Willard didn't know that, but it's true and many did it without healthcare, corporate millionaire vultures as husbands and yes, they even had five or more kids so she actually didn't do much as usual.
They both looked lovely and it was a wonderful tribute to awareness month. I am sure they both are very family oriented and support their husbands well.
Who won the debate to me the wives did.
Oh dear journalist, you really do think women are stoooopid. Really, we can figure that one out without you bringing it to our attention. We know October is breast cancer month, and we know pink is the color. We can put 2 and 2 together without you. Sorry, that you're not always needed.
Ann Romney looks mean, always. She's just got her head so far up her own - that it pains me to look at her. They are such the poster children for upper-class delusionalism. They really think they are better than us.
How about supporting breast cancer research. I noticed that Obama mentioned in both debates the importance of basic science research and that he does not think cutting science funding is a good idea. As with most things, I do not know where Romney stands on this but I know Republicans have been trying to kill funding for basic science research for years.
@ Ed 1 yes she donated to the Mormon charities only. Get a grip. The Romney's only care about themselves However I am very happy that she survived breast cancer. See this is the only thing that you republicans care about is money and yourselves, forget the rest of America.
Both women looked beautifull in pink while supporting breast cancer awareness.
Besides the beautiful women.
Did anybody notice that Mitt Phony used the same one liners and talking points from the first debate? When new issues came up like, women's pay, women's healthcare, AK 47s, Lybia, etc. the guy was lost and confused. I think he burned all of his fuel in the first debate.
I wonder how many women have been diagnosed with breast cancer through the services of Planned Parenthood? Apparently no one has yet grasped that as a cancer survivor herself, Ann Romney ought to be doing more than simply wearing "pink" ... she ought to be encouraging her husband the presidential candidate to give ALL women the chance to become "survivors"... including supporting the services of Planned Parenthood by promising NOT to defund it.
I predict Obama will not be reelected, Obama does not know the economy, he just know the need of his own class, which is the minority and the minority does not grow an economy unless they are well educated.
As long as America remains the largest producer of specific weapons the economy will not grow Let me put it this way, to grown an economy one would need to understand national and global economics, global currency. You don't feed families by putting guns on the table to eat, and buying flowers for the dead.
The Obamas want to make you believe they favor the poor but their daughters go the most expensive private school in DC. During the second debate, Michelle Obama's dress cost twice as much as Ms Romney's yet the press was silent as to this fact. We hit the Romneys hard because of their wealth yet the media did not find fault with John Kerrey's fortune during the 2004 campaign. Kerrey is worth twice as much as Romney by the way.
Pink being one of my favorite colors, I was delighted to see both ladies in it. However whenever I see Ann she always has a scowl on her face. She seems very snobbish. She doesn't seem approachable at all. I also agree with the poster that said, her being a breast cancer survivor, she should be all about early detection and she should tell her husband to support it and Planned Parenthood.
That being said, I will say Mrs. Obama looks great in everything she wears. And that shade of pink looks great with her complexion. Actually all bright colors look good on her and myself.
Just dressing up appropriately for the occasion or in honor of any special day does not say anything. But Romneys have proved that they cannot connect with people of either the middle class or the women. I did not see Romney talking friendly with anymore after the two debates. Mrs. Romney did not seem to be talking in a friendly manner with anyone.
On the contrast, I saw the President and the first lady spending time talking with many undecided voters who were a part of the debate. When a busy president and first lady could spend time with the voters, why not Presidential nominee and his wife ?