What do pigs , cosmetics have to do with election

During his 1984 presidential primary, Sen. Gary Hart sought to position himself as the candidate of "new ideas." When he and Democratic rival Walter Mondale debated, the former vice president invoked a popular TV commercial for Wendy's hamburger chain. Mondale said, "When I hear your new ideas, I'm reminded of that ad, 'Where's the beef?'"This year, there is no beef. Instead, everyone is pigging out on pigs. Especially pigs with lipstick. And perhaps that's fitting imagery for those peddling political slop. They are giving both pigs and lipstick a bad name.

John McCain's running mate, a self-described hockey mom, kicked off this trite min-debate at the Republican National Convention when she said the only difference between a pit bull and a hockey mom was lipstick.

In a clear reference to his contention that John McCain would continue Presdent Bush's failing policies, Barack Obama said, ".You can put lipstick on a pig, it's still a pig."

The McCain camp pretended outrage, accusing Obama of referring to vice presidential nominee, Gov. Sarah Palin. Their argument? She's the only one in the race who wears lipstick.

As far-fetched as that seems, it is even more incredulous when you realize that McCain has used similar language at least twice.

According to Time magazine, Sen. McCaign used the expression while campaigning in Iowa in October 2007, to criticize Hillary Clinton's revamped health care plan, which he said wasn't much different from the one she unsuccessfully pushed in 1993. "I think they put some lipstick on the pig, but it's still a pig," he said.

The magazine reported that McCain brought up the phrase again in May this year to describe Clinton's health care plan at a town hall in Denver: "I don't like to use the term, but the latest proposal I see is putting lipstick on a pig," he said.

This debate over pigs and cosmetics is part of a larger Republican strategy to keep Sen. Barack Obama on the defensive by forcing him to address phony issues

Even more troubling is McCain's willingness to keep lying about the GOP's record, even after the lies have been exposed. For example, despite the record clearly showing that Palin favored the "Bridge to Nowhere" until the federal government decided to drop the project, the GOP keeps insisting that Palin opposed the bridge; she opposed it only after the fact.

In her Sept. 3 convention speech, Palin bragged about cutting state spending, pointing that she put a state luxury jet on eBay for sale. McCain went even further: ''You know what I enjoyed the most? She took the luxury jet that was acquired by her predecessor and sold it on eBay - and made a profit!''

But the plane was never sold on eBay. Turbo North Aviation, an aircraft dealing company, sold the jet for Alaska for less than what the state bought it.

The pigs-in-lipstick episode is yet another example of the McCain-Palin team's untruthfulness. But they are not the only ones obsessed with the down-home expression.

Campaigning in September 2004, Democratic vice presidential nominee, John Edwards discussing Republican efforts to put a good face on poor employment figures, said: "They're going to try every way they know to put lipstick on this pig. But, you know when you put lipstick on a pig, at the end of the day, it's still a pig."

Two months later, Edwards' counterpart, Vice President Dick Cheney, derided John Kerry's national security credentials. "He's trying every which way to cover up his record of weakness on national defense," Cheney said, referring to Kerry. "But he can't do it. It won't work. As we like to say in Wyoming, you can put all the lipstick you want on a pig, but at the end of the day it's still a pig."

George E. Curry, former editor-in-chief of Emerge magazine and the NNPA News Service, is a keynote speaker, moderator, and media coach. He can be reached through his Web site, www.georgecurry.com.