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White House ’08: Puttin’ lipstick on a pig of a politics story

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham
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John McCain said of Hillary Clinton’s health-care proposal last year: “I think they put some lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig.” McCain made a similar-sounding remark about former GOP presidential Mitt Romney during the New Hampshire primary: “Never get into a wrestling match with a pig. You both get dirty — and the pig likes it.” And now the McCain camp is up in arms – because Barack Obama riffed on Sarah Palin’s line from last week’s Republican National Convention today in Southwest Virginia.

“You can put lipstick on a pig. It’s still a pig,” Obama said, referencing one of the more memorable lines from Palin’s RNC speech in which she deadpanned: “What’s the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? Lipstick.”

“Sen. Obama uttered what I can only deem to be disgraceful comments comparing our vice-presidential nominee to a pig. It’s clear to me, as I’m sure it will be to fair-minded Republicans, Democrats and independents across the country, that Sen. Obama owes Gov. Palin an apology,” said Jane Swift, the former Massachusetts governor and the head of the newly-formed Sarah Palin Truth Squad, in a conference call with reporters this evening.

Swift said the comment is “just the latest in a series of comments that many folks like me will find offensive” – listing among those a comment from Obama’s running mate, Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, that Palin is “good-looking” that Biden delivered in remarks to a rally in Toledo, Ohio, last week, in which he also made self-deprecating remarks about his own physical appearance.

Swift would probably then also find offensive an item from the Republican Party of Virginia website that I happened to come across yesterday. Under the heading “Sarah Palin vs. Barack Obama: Compare the Candidates,” the RPV offers an issue-by-issue breakdown of Palin and Obama on matters including one labeled Public Opinion. In the item for Palin as it appears on the site today: “Very attractive accomplished mother with a career.” In the item as it appeared yesterday (from the Google cache): “Smoking hot in a naughty librarian sort of way.”

A reporter asked Swift specifically about the comment that McCain made about Romney earlier this year. “I think there is a difference,” Swift said. “Ultimately the American people will make that decision. I think what Sen. McCain was complaining about were the accusations that were coming toward him that were equally indefensible. And so I do think there is a difference. And I think ultimately the American people realize that calling a very prominent female governor of one of our states a pig is not what we want to see when we are supposedly going to have this great debate that is the politics of hope.”

Chris Graham

Chris Graham

Chris Graham, the king of "fringe media," a zero-time Virginia Sportswriter of the Year, and a member of zero Halls of Fame, is the founder and editor of Augusta Free Press. A 1994 alum of the University of Virginia, Chris is the author and co-author of seven books, including Poverty of Imagination, a memoir published in 2019. For his commentaries on news, sports and politics, go to his YouTube page, or subscribe to his Street Knowledge podcast. Email Chris at [email protected].