Did Obama Just Call Palin a Pig?

So the internet is buzzing over this video where Obama either made a huge gaffe or a huge insult. You decide.



Transcript:

"You can put lipstick on a pig," he said as the crowd cheered. "It's still a pig."

"You can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called change. It's still gonna stink."

"We've had enough of the same old thing."

The phrase "lipstick on a pig" is a known expression. On the other hand, Palin made lipstick famous with her ad-lib during her convention speech: "What's the difference between a hockey mom and a pitbull? Lipstick." So was Obama insulting Palin or just being clueless?

Normally I give people the benefit of the doubt in cases like this. Running for president is a tiring task and every slip of the tongue is ripe for criticism. In this case, though, I'm going to have to say he knew what he was saying.

It seems to be the new game plan to counteract the recent poll results showing McCain taking the lead in many areas. Just a few days ago, Obama's wife, referring to the pick of Biden by her husband, said that "he isn't afraid of smart people". Of course the insinuation is that McCain is and therefore picked that dumb redneck Palin. Obama is the super intellectual right? Ivy league education and all of that. My money is he knew what he was saying. Sadly he was probably goaded into doing it by his advisers. Up until now, he hasn't been that directly low brow during his campaign. If his camp is panicking because of the poll results, I can seem them suggesting he (and others) start with the innuendo.

As a final thought, try, if you can, to forget whom you are voting for in the fall. Imagine if Palin had made the following quotes (credit Tom Spaulding):

BTW, If McCain had characterized Obama's secretiveness regarding Ayers and Wright as "Trying to get the fried chicken recipe from Colonel Sanders", or described Obama's Marxist environmental programs as "Like watermelons...Green on the outside, Red on the inside", would that be simply using a "turn of the phrase"...

If your reaction is that nobody would have have considered it inappropriate then I'm afraid you have your blinders on.