"Lipstick On A Pig:" Thank You, Ann

It seems like this week's we-don't-want-to-talk-issues distraction by the McCain campaign is trying to twist Senator Obama's using the phrase "lipstick on a pig" to describe McCain's attempts at trying to ride his new "change" message despite having voted with President Bush and congressional Republicans 90% of the time.

Senator McCain is trying to somehow associate that with his choice of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin for his running mate — a tactic unlikely to play well in Texas, as we all recall Governor Ann Richards' popularizing the phrase by leveling it against President George H.W. Bush about a decade and a half ago, and its common reuse as a political witticism through the years (used, among others, by McCain himself).

Senator Obama seems to know about the phrase's history as well, and says that he won't stand McCain's "Swift-boat politics."