McCain

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“Lipstick on a Pig”

Is using this saying sexist?  Slate Magazine has two interesting takes on the subject.  First “the Explainer” talks about the origins of the saying.  There have been variations on the theme for many years.  Ann Richards used it against both Bushes, for example.  http://www.slate.com/id/2199805/

And there is video of John McCain using it specifically against Hillary Clinton’s health care plan. http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid271557392/bctid1784628752

I don’t think of the term, given its history in American politics as being particularly sexist.  It simply means trying to dress something up so people might be fooled into thinking it is something new.  I think McCain was using it as a dig at a health care proposal and Obama was using it to talk about Republican policies generally.  It should be noted that he was speaking in a rural area of Virgina where most of his listener probably got the reference and the humor. In neither case was it used against anyone specific.

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The Republican Veep

What’s up with Sarah Palin?  The Democrats did not pick Tim Kaine in part because his electoral experience was Richmond City Council, Mayor of Richmond and not quite 3 years as governor of Virginia.  Sound a lot like Palin’s resume.  This is the woman that John McCain picked – at age 72 – to sit a hearbeat away fromt the Presidency?  At least Tim speaks Spanish and has lived in Latin America.

This reminds me a lot of the Dan Quayle pick.  Of course, maybe I don’t want to think about that too much as that worked – or at least didn’t hurt the Republicans.  And reports are that she’s on tape saying she really didn’t want to be vice president because she didn’t know what a vice president did (!).  She also under investigation for corrpution in Alaska.

I think this is a cynical move to curry favor with the religious right and maybe some Clinton supporters.  I hope the Bill and Hillary have made it clear enough that John McCain and now Sara Palin stand in opposition for everything Hillary was fighting for during the primaries.