John McCain's Campaign Launches Ad Blasting Barack Obama's 'Lipstick' Quip
By Michael Saul
Daily News Political Correspondent
Barack Obama accused rival John McCain of unleashing a "Swift-boat" style attack for launching a Web ad insisting the Democrat smeared Sarah Palin with his "pig in lipstick" crack.
"What their campaign has done this morning is the same game that has made people sick and tired of politics in this country," Obama said at an event in Virginia. "They seize on an innocent remark, try to take it out of context, throw up an outrageous ad because they know that it's catnip for the news media."
Obama accused the McCain campaign of focusing the public's attention on silliness at the expense of the important issues facing the nation.
"Enough!" he demanded. "I don't care what they say about me, but I love this country too much to let them take over another election with lies and phony outrage and Swiftboat politics. Enough is enough."
The new McCain web ad, released online early this morning, begins with the words "Sarah Palin on: Sarah Palin" and then immediately cuts to Palin's famous line from her recent GOP convention speech where she described herself as a hard-charging hockey mom.
"Do you know, they say the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull: lipstick," Palin said.
The ad, then, directly accuses Obama of slurring Palin during his remarks in Virginia last night.
With the words "Barack Obama On: Sarah Palin," flashing across screen, the ad shifts to Obama saying yesterday, "Well, you know, you can, you know, you can put lipstick on a pig. It's still a pig."
The ad then cuts to CBS News anchor Katie Couric noting that sexism continues to play a role in American life.
"Ready To Lead? No," the ad concludes. "Ready To Smear? Yes."
Obama this morning explained the context behind his controversial remark.
"I'm talking about John McCain's economic policies. I say this is more of the same, you can put lipstick on a pig but it's still a pig. And, suddenly, they say, 'Oh, you must be talking about the governor of Alaska," he said as the crowd erupted in laughter.
"It would be funny, except, of course, the news media decided that that was the lead story yesterday," he added.
McCain's team demanded an immediate apology, claiming there was no other way to interpret the quip than as a Palin slam given her high-profile reference to "lipstick" in her convention speech.
Last night, Anita Dunn, a senior campaign adviser, called the McCain attack a "pathetic attempt to play the gender card about the use of a common analogy - the same analogy that Senator McCain himself used about Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's health care plan just last year."
Last year, McCain used the "lipstick on a pig" line to attack Clinton's health care plan. The Obama campaign pointed out today that McCain also used the phrase two other times in 2007.
Reader Comments
lipstick comment
Senator McCain Did you forget you used the same wordage about Hilliary Clinton a few years ago?
Lipstick that Smears
All of this nonsense about lipstick by the Republicans does nothing but smear the reality of discussing issues. By taking words out of context from an expression that both McCain, Chenney and others have used on numerous occasions and make this the issue of the day is an obvious distortion and plain waste of time.
If this is all the McCain/Palin ticket can come up with this close to an election, we have real problems ahead.
Lip Stick
The article did not fully disclose every nuance of the statement made by Obama. It failed to report the shade of the lipstick and whether it matched the pigs complextion.
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