US Prez says dog is more charismatic than mother in-law

US President Barack Obama could be in the doghouse with his mother-in-law after suggesting Bo, the family pet, has more charisma than her. He was quick to correct his Freudian slip in a campaign speech he made yesterday in Davenport,Iowa.

Bo the family's Portuguese water dog. Pic/AFP

After his wife Michelle addressed the crowd, Obama took the podium and said, "Let's face it, on the charisma rankings in my household, you've got her (Michelle), the girls, Bo and then my mother-in-law and then me."

I love my mother in-law too: US President Barack Obama was quick to correct his comments, saying that mother-in-law Marian Robinson was in fact more charismatic than Bo (left) the family's Portuguese water dog. Pic/AFP

While Bo the Portuguese water dog has been a very public fixture at the White House, Obama realised what he had said and was quick to say his mother-in-law Marian Robinson was actually more charismatic than the dog.

He said, "Actually my mother in-law is before Bo, obviously. I love my mother in-law, too - that's where Michelle got her looks from." Robinson lives with the family in the White House after Obama became the first American president to appoint a ‘First Grandmother' in 2008 to look after his daughters.
But perhaps Bo, who is never far from the political limelight, is Obama's favoured companion in the White House.

The First Dog was a gift from Senator Edward Kennedy and his wife to Obama's daughters Sasha and Malia who had been promised a dog by their father when he was on the presidential campaign trail.