text: During last night’s surprise appearance by Barack Obama at the third night of the Democratic National Convention, we totally did a double-take when we saw the dashing Senator from Illinois plant a big one on Jill Biden, the wife of his running mate, Joe Biden. Was it on purpose and platonic mouth kisses are suddenly the new show of affection in Washington, or was it an accident? Who knows, but certainly the accidental mouth kiss is something we’ve all endured… 
   
   You’re at a party greeting a million people and instead of grazing someone’s cheek with your lips, you accidentally go mouth-to-mouth. This can make for a very awkward situation, unless you luck out with a totally close friend who would immediately laugh it off. There’s a few ways this can go. 
   
   1. Your Crush: This is a pretty perfect opening to say, “Oops, I’ve always wanted to do this” or “This is what it feels like to be this close to me.” Thus this may help advance things to another level or get him or her thinking of you as more than just a friend. Come to think of it, I once had an “accidental” goodnight peck with a crush before things heated up between us. And one of my friends recalls an accidental kiss with a crush that confused her so much, she thought maybe he really was trying to kiss her but drunkenly messed it up. 
   
   2. The Family Friend: Laugh this incident off. “I kissed my best friend’s mom on the mouth by accident once. I initially felt very awkward , but when I said, ‘Oops’, we immediately both started laughing.” If you both acknowledge that it was a complete accident, crack a joke about being hot for them for years, you can have a giggle and move on. 
   
   3. Your Boss, Your Boyfriend’s Father, A Family Member: If you accidentally smooch someone really inappropriate, you can either apologize firmly once or deny, deny, deny. But having had my fair share of accidental mouth kisses with truly mortifying people, you will most likely be too shocked and embarrassed to handle this with grace. Bite the bullet, smile politely, and move on. ||||| Mediate has made a shocking discovery: Obama smooched Diane Sawyer during an ABC News Interview tonight! It was like a current events-themed Harlequin novel over there. What's more, Obama has a history of stealing kisses from powerful ladies. 
   
   First, take a look at Sweet Lips Obama as he makes the kiss-y face at Diane Sawyer before their interview on ABC World News because he LOOOOOVES HER SOOOO MUCH: 
   
   Here is our impression of Diane Sawyer: "Hello Mr. Pres—" *SMOOCHY* *SMOOCHY*. "Well, heavens me!" *BLUSH* "Of course I will ask you softball questions. Whatever you want, just keep me tapped into that sweet lip action... oh, Lordy, I haven't felt a man's touch since 20/20." *FAINT* 
   
   Mediaite hints that the smooch worked: Obama and Diane Sawyer sitting in a tree, conducting an unremarkable interview that will air between car insurance ads to overmedicated seniors—I-N-G. 
   
   But were you aware that our president has frequently deployed his lips to win over potential adversaries and reward friends alike? (Lady friends only, please.) Here is Obama snogging with Hilary Clinton at his health care address to congress last year: 
   
   
   
   SEXXXY 
   
   And then Fox & Friends had some fun over the time Hil apparently snubbed Bill Clinton's leathery smackers in favor of Obama's velveteen speechmakers: 
   
   
   
   Grass is always greener... we feel you, Hil. 
   
   And, of course, there was the time Obama "accidentally" sucked face with Dr. Jill Biden: 
   
   
   
   "Hey, Jill, I know this great podium where we can stand and watch the sun set." 
   
   But even Obama was stymied by French first lady Carla Bruni, who apparently backed away from the dual heat-seeking missiles that are Obama's all-curing lips: 
   
   The Gaul! (NY Post: You've got my number. -ED) 
   
   As our national love affair with Obama continues to sours, seems he's about one bad Gallup poll from resorting to "7 Minutes In Heaven" with every single American. 
   
   [Lukas Ketner drew the picture for Willamette Week.] ||||| Did President Obama dodge a friendly kiss from French First Lady Carla Bruni? 
   
   Segrette/AP France's first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy shakes President Obama's hand instead of a customary kiss, like the one exchanged between Michelle Obama and French President Nicolas Sarkozy. 
   
   Forget NATO, world peace or the global recession - it was The Kiss, or the lack of one, that was the talk of Europe Friday. 
   
   The international kiss-ident unfolded as President Obama and his wife, Michelle, met French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his supermodel wife, Carla Bruni, in Strasbourg, France, as part of this weekend's NATO summit. 
   
   Everything seemed to be going swimmingly, in a French kind of way, outside the regal Palais Rohan. 
   
   Michelle and Carla shared a warm embrace and a Continental-style peck on each cheek, captured by hundreds of whirring paparazzi. 
   
   President Obama and the prime minister shook hands heartily and even two-stepped through an awkward French man-hug. 
   
   The much smaller Sarkozy even managed to land a double-kiss on Michelle - pausing only to glide his hand across his wife's celebrated derriere with a giddy, look-what-I-got grin plastered on his face, dutifully caught on camera. 
   
   But when Bruni leaned in to kiss President Obama, something happened. 
   
   Maybe he balked, perhaps imagining all the late-night fodder a picture of him smooching a fashion model might inspire. Maybe she pulled back. Whatever. 
   
   There was no kiss, just a prim handshake, sending the British press in particular into a spasm of forensic investigation that included a frame-by-frame analysis of the Kiss That Wasn't. 
   
   It would be hours before the situation was rectified - at a dinner last night, when Bruni and Obama finally managed to seal their relationship with a polite double kiss. 
   
   Perhaps by then Bruni had gotten the green light from Michelle during a lunch of marinated scallops with caviar they enjoyed inside the palace, after which the ladies resolved to work together to battle AIDS (Bruni lost a brother to the disease). 
   
   The day included plenty for fashion mavens to chew on as well. 
   
   Michelle Obama, having stuck for most of the week to price-conscious ensembles from J. Crew, broke out the big guns for her first tete-a-tete with Bruni, a.k.a. "The Chanel Gazelle." 
   
   Obama wore a brilliant magenta dress with a metallic sheen by Thakoon, a Thai-born designer who grew up in the U.S. The double-hemmed, Italian-silk dress cost about $1,500 - a major price upgrade for the first lady. 
   
   Bruni, on the other hand, opted for a cropped-sleeve Dior coat in a soft, plain grey - stylish but very simple. 
   
   "Carla actually looks a bit washed out and (we can't believe we're about to say this) prim and proper," said The Guardian of London. "A flash of color or a fashionable statement accessory could have taken this outfit to another level - but that's just not Carla's style."
target: – When you're the president of the United States, a kiss, apparently, is never just a kiss. Yesterday, the president pecked Diane Sawyer on the cheek before an interview. "It was like a current events-themed Harlequin novel," writes Gawker's Adrian Chen. And it wasn't the first time! A brief history of the president's "public smooching rampage:" The "Accidental" Kiss: During the presidential campaign an enthusiastic Obama "accidentally" kissed Jill Biden on the lips. "This can make for a very awkward situation," the Frisky notes. The "Diss" Kiss: When Barack and Michelle met Carla and Sarko, the president skimped on smooching France's first lady. It caused a major diplomatic kiss-ident, reports the Daily News. The Reward Kiss: The president puckered up to Hillary Clinton at his health care address this fall. It showed, as Gawker put it, that he can "deploy his lips" to "reward friends." Find a complete kiss and tell here.