Sidney Barthwell recently became famous overnight because he has the odd distinction of having attended school with both President Obama and his GOP opponent Mitt Romney. While he has sung the praises of both men, Barthwell has argued that Obama will be a far more effective debater than the former Massachusetts governor. Barthwell claims Obama would “smoke” Romney in a general election face-off. The Huffington Post reports:
Sidney Barthwell, perhaps the only former classmate of both Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama, thinks the former Massachusetts governor doesn’t stand a chance when facing the incumbent president in debates prior to their November electoral contest.
“When they debate, Barack will smoke Romney,” Barthwell, a district court magistrate in Michigan, said in an interview published by The Daily on Tuesday.
“Mitt Romney is smart,” he continued. “Having said all that, I still think he’s going to get smoked. The best he can do is hopefully come out not looking like a fool. Mitt will find out the hard way as soon as they have their first debate: You don’t debate Obama.”
Barthwell, 64, was the only black member of Romney’s 1965 class at Cranbrook Schools and later attended Harvard Law School with Obama. He identifies himself as being politically independent, has donated money to both campaigns and has “tremendous respect” for both men, he said.
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