Lip'schtick': Pig-headed response to Obama gaffe a cheap political ploy

This is a column I wrote for the Flint Journal Community Newspapers...

The McCain campaign dove headfirst into the controversy surrounding presidential hopeful Barack Obama's gaffe on the campaign trail on Tuesday, in which he invoked the "lipstick on a pig" adage when speaking about John McCain's claims about being an agent of change.

The problem for Obama, of course, has been the suggestion that the use of the adage was in reference to Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's oft-replayed quip during her speech at the Republican National Convention earlier this month.

In it, Palin explained that the only difference between a "hockey mom" and a pitbull was, of course, lipstick.

The McCain campaign has seized upon the opportunity to score political points with undecided voters who have a roundly positive view of his vice presidential candidate.

And while the raucous crowd in Virginia appeared to believe that Obama was alluding to Palin's comment, I'm not convinced.

I cannot envision a scenario in which a major party presidential candidate like Obama, at this point a coin-flip away from the presidency, would make such a bone-jarringly indiotic statement.

It appeared, at least to my eyes, that Obama knew his statement would be misconstrued immediately after making it. And so, he followed it up with another, perhaps more apt, adage: "You can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called change, but it's still going to stink after eight years."

Did Obama just call John McCain old and scaley? How dare he?

Don't laugh, Congresswoman Mary Fallin, a McCain surrogate from Oklahoma suggested as much in an interview with Chris Matthews on MSNBC Wednesday night.

From here on out, Obama should side with fish-related analogies on the stump.
But seriously, this is what passes for a controversy nowadays?

Obama is not so stupid as to make such a statement with intent to smear Governor Palin. Clearly the McCain campaign is employing this cheap political ploy to demonize Obama, and one need only watch their latest political ad playing up the gaffe to recognize this.

If you believe Barack Obama called Sarah Palin a pig, it's because you want to believe it -- and that doesn't make it true.