Obama knew exactly what he was doing when he used this phrase. But he was NOT calling Palin a pig. He was just taking her "pitbull with lipstick" line (which hit a big chord) and giving it a twist. And he made a very good point along the way. More power to him.

Of course he knew that some people in the media would purposefully misconstrue his remark to imply that he called Palin a pig, but on a purely literal level that is patently false. The GOP's "uppity" remark is a lot more indefensible by comparison, at this word-association level.

On a deeper (lizard brain) level, Obama has now associated Palin with the term "pig in lipstick" (ecchh!) rather than "pitbull in lipstick" (you go, girl!). When the GOP does shit like that, all the Dems gasp and say "Oooh, that's clever".

I'd prefer to see Obama stay above the fray and let his surrogates handle this shit. Maybe Hillary should have delivered the line? Or Bill? But I guess Obama wanted to give it a big kick. Again, cool - that zesty youthful adrenalin will end up looking good come November 2nd.

I don't quite get where Obama's team is heading, but it's clear they are haunted by the ghost of Kerry '04, who miserably failed to take the fight over Iraq all the way to the wire. Obama's got game and he's gonna play these suckas. Yet again, cool. It's about time the Dems showed some spine. Maybe in 2009 he will stand up to AIPAC and the military-industrial complex too? We live in hope!

The Bill Clinton campaign brought the term "wagging the dog" to public consciousness.

But McCain-Palin 08 is all tail and no dog.

I recommend readers take a look at Dilbert creator Scott Adams on the choice of Palin as VP (link at my sig):

Since selecting Palin, the discussion in the media and in kitchens across America has shifted from "Can you be too old to be President?" to "Can you be too young and inexperienced?" McCain has cleverly put his critics in the position of arguing that experience is a good thing. And McCain has more of it than Obama. If you believe that people only vote for presidents, not vice presidents, this was a clever move.

The Democrats' other big argument against McCain was that he's a phony maverick who won't really change anything. It's hard to make that case while at the same time criticizing him for making such a surprising pick for Vice President. You can argue with Palin's credentials, but you can no longer argue with McCain's willingness to buck conventional wisdom. That book is closed.

On the more obvious side of things, picking a young woman insulates McCain from being the charter member of the Old Boy's Club. It's politically correct to say voters are smart. But clearly there are millions of exceptions.

Sure, you can spin Sarah Palin as a great narrative story. But scratch the surface and she is just a minor nobody from nowhere, with nothing to justify her run for Veep.

Similarly, you can spin McCain as the maverick POW bringing a big stick to Washington. But scratch the surface and he's just a degenerate old fool, another Bush GOP toady, a war-mongering establishment tool with a long and shameful record to hide.

The question is whether these fictional narratives will dominate the election, or whether voters faced with economic collapse, global warming, and two failed wars will start seeking real answers.

Could someone provide me with a list of countries with a reasonably intelligent populus?

The BBC just did a survey of 22,500 people across 22 countries and discovered that in EVERY SINGLE COUNTRY there was OVERWHELMING SUPPORT for Barack Obama over McCain's GOP.

As an Australian, I really hope US readers will stop and think about this. It's not that the rest of the world is crazy about Obama. We just cannot stomach the idea of four more years of McSame.

Link at my sig.

From Josh Marshall:

This is ugly stuff. And this is an ugly person. There's clearly no level of sleaze this guy won't stoop to to win this election.

And let's be frank. He might win it. This is clearly a testing time for Obama supporters. But I want to return to a point I made a few years ago during the Social Security battle with President Bush. Winning and losing is never fully in one's control -- not in politics or in life. What is always within our control is how we fight and bear up under pressure. It's easy to get twisted up in your head about strategy and message and optics. But what is already apparent is that John McCain is running the sleaziest, most dishonest and race-baiting campaign of our lifetimes. So let's stopped [sic] being shocked and awed by every new example of it. It is undignified. What can we do? ... If Democrats can say at the end of this campaign that they made clear exactly how and why these two are unfit for high office they can be satisfied they served their country.