Lipstick on a Pig

"You can put lipstick on a pig," he said to an outbreak of laughter, shouts and raucous applause from his audience, clearly drawing a connection to Palin's joke even if it's not what Obama meant. "It's still a pig. You can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called change. It's still going to stink after eight years."

I think it's clear that I'm a huge Palin fan. I think that Palin is the best thing that's come into the Republican spotlight in many years. John McCain made an inspired choice when he chose Governor Sarah as his running mate.

Now, admitting my admiration of and for Governor Sarah, I just don't think this was a swipe at her. I heard the clip and read the words and believe Barack Obama was referring to McCain's platform. Obama believes that McCain is simply trying to re-brand Bush policies. The fact that his audience saw it as a reference to Governor Sarah is something else. He saw the reaction and probably realized what he just said. He even chuckled when he saw and heard the audience reaction. I think he realized that the comment would link to Governor Sarah, but you know, the words were out there and he couldn't take it back.

All that being said, hearing the clip and reading the words, it may have been an unfortunate choice to use the word "lipstick" since Sarah herself used the word "lipstick" during her acceptance speech comparing hockey moms to woverines. "Putting lipstick on a pig" is an old saying meaning to make something pretty that is dirty and/or ugly.

Should he apologize? Well, if he's the man he says he is, he will bow to voter perception and offer an apology of sorts. Perhaps something along the lines that it wasn't intended to be a slam at Palin, but at the McCain platform. He really needs to address it and get it off the radar. Of course, since I'm a Palin fan, I'd rather he kept quiet about it and let it remain as a topic of conversation. Let it boil and roil until it costs him a lot of votes.

It's a communications issue. Perception is everything. Most people just don't get that when they say something, they know what they mean, but the other person may not. Oh, we hear the words, but maybe not in the way you meant. Everyone hears the words, but they are defined by not only by the actual definition, but by each person's own life experiences, attitudes, their perceptions of the candidate, their personal stand on issues, and yes, even their mood at the time.

Obama is a great speaker, especially when reading from a script. That's why he does so well speaking to huge groups. McCain speaks better "shooting from the hip" and does very well in speaking in town hall type events. Their supporters are going to hear what the candidate has to say in context of their support for and admiration of the candidate. The candidates can say the same thing in different words and I'd bet that the Obama supporters would berate McCain and McCain supporters would berate Obama.

Recently my work group was subjected to a verbal tongue lashing by one of our supervisors. It started when the supervisor perceived that one of us wasn't paying attention. In reality, he was. The supervisor asked the group member to repeat what the supervisor had just said and I'm happy to say that he was able to do so. The supervisor went on to berate the entire group for not paying attention. Some may have been insulted at the perception that they weren't paying attention. I wasn't as I knew it didn't apply to me. Of the people I spoke to about what happened, all were of the same mind as I was: What was that all about? None of us took it personally, but we were perplexed as to where it had come from. This supervisor is known for going off on things most of us know nothing about, so we just figured it more of the same.

So, getting back to perception in campaign remarks, some people are going to hear statements made by all the candidates and take them in ways that the candidate may not have meant. This is going to happen especially when the candidate is speaking in an off-the-cuff, shoot from the hip, unscripted event. When the candidates are making scripted appearances, speaking from written speeches, this is isn't as likely to happen. When this kind of remark is made during a written speech, it's usually done to make a point. Speeches are reviewed specifically to make sure that the candidate's points are made and that as few voters as possible are offended.

That's a big thing in politics. Don't offend the voters! Speeches and unscripted appearances are meant to attract as many voters as possible. No candidate deliberately offends the voters. Especially the all-important ones - the ones you might be able to swing to your side.

No, I'm not an Obama supporter and if I could use this to yank the legs out from under his campaign, I would. But in this case, I don't think he meant to say Governor Sarah Palin is a pig.

If he did, then perhaps he needs to change the shade of lipstick he wears.