Politics: Panic setting in at the Obama camp? (UPDATED)
UPDATE: I’ve reconsidered this post after looking at a longer clip of the speech in question.
Via TVNewser, the clip that CBS managed to get pulled because it was a “copyright infringement” (It wasn’t; it was fair use):
Please enable Javascript and Flash to view this Flash video.
We’ll see how long it lasts. YouTube has a history of pulling clips when Big Media wants it to.
Obama responded this morning my whining about how this is trivial and unimportant it is, calling the ad “swiftboating.” Oh, please.
In other words: “I should get to insult people, but then they fight back, that’s negative campaigning.” McCain used the same phrase to describe Hillary Clinton’s health plan once. Obama was talking about Palin herself.
It’s beginning to look like Obama and his supporters are panicking. They spent the last few months convinced that once he won the primary, the election was in the bag. Palin’s selection has been a game changer, though. Obama supporters don’t know how to campaign against her, and the result has a stream of misogyny, much of it much worse than Obama’s pig-wearing-lipstick comment.
September 10th, 2008 at 4:02 pm
I think everyone knows that I’m supporting McCain-Palin in the election. But I’ve got to say, I wish they would stop making a big deal out of this comment. I don’t believe for a minute that Obama was trying to make some slur against Palin by his “lipstick on a pig” comment. It’s a common phrase that made his point — and it had absolutely nothing to do with Palin’s lipstick joke. It’s frankly embarrassing that the McCain camp is making such a big fuss about it. I know it’s politics, but it’s just this kind of contrived political controversy that turns people off. They need to let it go.
September 10th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
Perhaps the comment should be taken in context. The assertion Obama is talking about Palin is a stretch.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/09/obama-lipstick-on-a-pig-v_n_125253.html
September 10th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
The Journal Star’s RSS feed had a story on that today too (okay it ran as far as I know as an AP Wire story) – and the writer’s (NEDRA PICKLER) take was this:
“In his initial comments Tuesday, Obama was delivering a dissertation about McCain and President Bush when he used the lipstick aphorism — not Palin. In fact, his reference to the Alaska governor later on was a defense of her strong belief in religion.”
I agree with CJ’s last two sentences exactly. It’s politics – and on a big, fat, important scale – but yeah – it turns me off completely too – no matter which side is doing it.
Interestingly, I’m on the side of Obama-Biden and I’m as guilty as the next guy of too often hearing what I want to hear but my take lately has been that the McCain camp is panicking. And even though my mind is made up, I’ll watch the debates because maybe we’ll get 90 minutes of issues each time instead of campaign and media spin. If only we can stay away from questions about lapel pins.
Way to keep the dialog flowing y’all. Appreciate hearing all sides here.
September 10th, 2008 at 5:03 pm
Well, if anyone thinks that McCain is going to win, I’d recommend going over to the election futures market and betting on the Republican candidate; at Intrade you can get a 2-1 deal on the Republican ticket.
Sorry, but responding to outrageous attacks is exactly what Obama should be doing.
I always thought it was the liberals who were whiny and PC.
September 10th, 2008 at 5:08 pm
They removed the YouTube video already. Any other way to see it?
September 10th, 2008 at 5:11 pm
CNN just showed John McCain saying EXACTLY the same phrase when talking about one of Hillary Clinton’s policies…”lipstick on a pig”.
C’mon, Billy, this is a non-issue, VERY Rovian (he’s pulling the strings again, isn’t he?) and Obama is 100% right in attacking back.
September 10th, 2008 at 5:13 pm
Obama WAS NOT talking about Palin. The posts from Matt and David have it correct. CNN just played the whole clip. IN context (something Rovian-style campaigning doesn’t do…EVER.)
September 10th, 2008 at 10:49 pm
“I should get to insult people, but then they fight back, that’s negative campaigning.â€
Insult people? Bill, have you lost your mind? Obama used a common, older-than-dirt, classical colloquial idiom, and the only reason mindless Republicans are pretending to take offense to it is because Palin described herself as a “bulldog with lipstick.”
Anyone who thinks this is an attack is either a shady, lowlife opportunist or a blithering idiot, period.
September 10th, 2008 at 10:51 pm
A special thanks, by the way, to the Republicans who replied to this post with the obvious, sensible, intelligent and appropriate response: this isn’t a big deal, his meaning was pretty obvious. Here’s hoping you have a spectacular day tomorrow.
September 10th, 2008 at 11:36 pm
[...] apologies for this post. Apparently, I had heard an edited version of Barack Obama’s “lip stick on a pig” [...]