September 10, 2008 11:43 AM
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A Lot Of Lipstick, And A Lot Of Pigs
As you've likely heard by now, the McCain campaign has expressed outrage that Barack Obama used the phrase "lipstick on a pig" while discussing John McCain and Sarah Palin.
"Barack Obama's comments today are offensive and disgraceful," McCain-Palin spokesperson Maria Comella said in a statement yesterday. "He owes Governor Palin an apology."
Obama's ostensibly offensive comment followed his mockery of the McCain/Palin ticket for professing to embrace change.
"That's just calling something the same thing, something different," Obama said in Lebanon, Virginia. "But you know you can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig."
"You can you can, wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called change, it's still going to stink after 8 years," he added. "We've had enough of the same old thing."
We'll leave it to you to judge whether Obama was somehow implying Palin was a pig, as former Massachusetts Gov. Jane Swift suggested in a Republican conference call. (Marc Ambinder, Ben Smith, Mike Huckabee and others say no. "I do not think he was referring to Sarah Palin; he didn't reference her," Huckabee said.) As you think on that, here are some other "lipstick on a pig" references for you to consider:
"I think they put some lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig." – John McCain, in reference to Hillary Clinton's health care plan, last year.
"George Bush has given a mission to General Petraeus, and he has done his best to try to figure out how to put lipstick on a pig." – Barack Obama, last year.
"Or as we say out in our home state of Wyoming, you can put all the lipstick you want on a pig, but it's still a pig." – Dick Cheney, 2004.
"It's all about withdrawal or not withdrawal, okay? I mean that's what it's all about. You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig." – John McCain, last year.
"You can put lipstick and earrings on a hog and call it Monique, but it's still a pig." – Texas Gov. Ann Richards.
"John Kerry tries to put a bunch of fancy, fancy talk...but there is nothing you can do to really -- to really obscure that record. You can try, though. And in Wyoming, we've got a saying for what it is when you keep trying to make something that's not so good look good, we call it putting lipstick on a pig." – Lynne Cheney, 2004.
"It gets down to whether you support what's being done in this new strategy or you don't. You can put lipstick on a pig. It's still a pig in my view." – John McCain, last year.
The Obama campaign also emailed to reporters quotes from more than 10 Republican officials who have used the phrase, among them House Minority Leader John Boehner and Former Republican Senator Rick Santorum.
"Barack Obama's comments today are offensive and disgraceful," McCain-Palin spokesperson Maria Comella said in a statement yesterday. "He owes Governor Palin an apology."
Obama's ostensibly offensive comment followed his mockery of the McCain/Palin ticket for professing to embrace change.
"That's just calling something the same thing, something different," Obama said in Lebanon, Virginia. "But you know you can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig."
"You can you can, wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called change, it's still going to stink after 8 years," he added. "We've had enough of the same old thing."
We'll leave it to you to judge whether Obama was somehow implying Palin was a pig, as former Massachusetts Gov. Jane Swift suggested in a Republican conference call. (Marc Ambinder, Ben Smith, Mike Huckabee and others say no. "I do not think he was referring to Sarah Palin; he didn't reference her," Huckabee said.) As you think on that, here are some other "lipstick on a pig" references for you to consider:
"I think they put some lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig." – John McCain, in reference to Hillary Clinton's health care plan, last year.
"George Bush has given a mission to General Petraeus, and he has done his best to try to figure out how to put lipstick on a pig." – Barack Obama, last year.
"Or as we say out in our home state of Wyoming, you can put all the lipstick you want on a pig, but it's still a pig." – Dick Cheney, 2004.
"It's all about withdrawal or not withdrawal, okay? I mean that's what it's all about. You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig." – John McCain, last year.
"You can put lipstick and earrings on a hog and call it Monique, but it's still a pig." – Texas Gov. Ann Richards.
"John Kerry tries to put a bunch of fancy, fancy talk...but there is nothing you can do to really -- to really obscure that record. You can try, though. And in Wyoming, we've got a saying for what it is when you keep trying to make something that's not so good look good, we call it putting lipstick on a pig." – Lynne Cheney, 2004.
"It gets down to whether you support what's being done in this new strategy or you don't. You can put lipstick on a pig. It's still a pig in my view." – John McCain, last year.
The Obama campaign also emailed to reporters quotes from more than 10 Republican officials who have used the phrase, among them House Minority Leader John Boehner and Former Republican Senator Rick Santorum.
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Brian Montopoli Brian Montopoli is the senior political reporter at CBSNews.com.
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