Oink Oink

Late Tuesay, Senator Barack Obama used the line “lipstick on a pig” in order to refer to McCain’s proposals for change.

In response to this line, the Republicans foolishly tried to spin Obama’s statement into an attack on Sarah Palin. However, in doing so, the Republicans crossed the line in attempting to attack Senator Obama. The first mistake of the Republicans was not looking at their own candidate’s past before issuing their accusations. Per CNN, in 2007, McCain used the line “lipstick on a pig” to refer to an issue proposed by, of all people, Hillary Clinton. Oops. In response to the Republicans’ accusation, Obama today refered to it as “a made up controversy” that is “catnip for the media.”

While I have recently been leaning toward McCain in my political support, I have to say that he made himself look foolish with his attack on Barack Obama. The idiom of “putting lipstick on a pig” is not new, and it certainly was not intended as an attack against Sarah Palin. McCain is becoming overzealous in his attempts to attack and downgrade the celebrity status of Obama. His attack ads concerning Moses and Paris Hilton were effective because they dealt directly with the issue of whether Obama is actually qualified to be president. However, his attack on this issue attempts to portray Obama as sexist and derogatory. McCain is attempting to do what Hillary Clinton never tried in her primary campaing: pull the sexism card. While it would be a good play if Obama actually insulted Palin, McCain has instead attempted to spin a common idion into his own personal cannon fodder. Perhaps McCain should contact Bill O’Reilly and see if he can spend some time in the “No Spin Zone.”

Now that McCain’s camp had made him look completely foolish, they might want to think about toning back the attack ads and putting out ads that play to important issues such as the war, the economy, and the oil shortage. Attack ads have become a staple of Republican campaings, and I fear that the Republicans might loose leverage that they have in this election if they continue to rely on attack ads as their primary means of media exposure for McCain. In his remarks today, Obama has already turned McCain’s failed accusations into a means to revist the infamous “swift boat” ads from the 2004 elections. The Democrats are seizing this failed attack by Republicans as an opportunity to point out that Republicans typically spend more time bashing the other candidate than supporting their own. McCain is being portrayed as overly agressive and demeaning, and his grandfatherly image might soon suffer if he begins to be seen as the political bully/name caller.

As this issue continues to play out, the Republicans will no dount continue to ask for an apology and Obama will no doubt continue to use it as material to attack the Republicans. If McCain were smart, he would admit overreaction and let this issue fade.

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