While, like the rest of the media establishment, CBS’s Early Show seemed to conclude that Barack Obama’s “lipstick on a pig” crack from the day before was nothing but a harmless comment, reporter Bill Plante put the swipe in the context of Democrats’ desperation to find some way to undermine the Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.
Unlike his competitors at ABC and NBC, Plante on Wednesday highlighted how Newsweek’s Howard Fineman quoted an unnamed “top Democratic strategist” as arguing about Palin: “We’ve got to go after her, and fast.” And Plante quoted from the blog WomenCount.org, which vowed to “work to stamp out sexism where we see it on the campaign trail.”
While all of the morning shows led with the “lipstick on a pig” complaint and steered the discussion to the view that the McCain campaign is thin-skinned and/or cynically calculating for raising such a spurious issue, none bothered to mention the far more absurd complaints from top Democrats that Republican references to Barack Obama as a “community organizer” were some sort of racist plot -- instead of quite obvious shots at Obama’s lack of experience.
For good measure, CBS brought aboard the senior editor of the liberal New Republic, Michael Crowley, who made the same point, calling Obama’s remark an “unintentional, pretty harmless comment that I think the McCain campaign wants us to discuss as a gaffe.” But Crowley also saw Democrats as “a little psyched out” by the prospect of running against Palin:
What this illustrates is the trouble that Palin causes for the Democratic ticket, because the Republicans are in a position to say [about] any comment like that, that's sexism, you're talking down to her, you're not showing respect to a woman. It's a really hard thing for Democrats to deal with, and you can tell they're a little psyched out by it.
Here’s how CBS covered the issue, which topped their Early Show broadcast on Wednesday morning:
Show intro, 7am EDT
HARRY SMITH: Lipstick bungle? Democrats look for openings as McCain and Palin surge in the polls, but was this a jab at the Alaskan Governor?
BARACK OBAMA: You can put lipstick on a pig. [cheers] It's still a pig.
7:01am EDT
HARRY SMITH: Let's get right to our top story, though. Sarah Palin has helped John McCain surge in the polls. Democrats are trying to figure out how to take her on, so was Barack Obama's recent 'lipstick comment' a calculated move, or just a political bungle. CBS News seniorWhite House Correspondent Bill Plante joins us with more on that. Good morning, Bill.
BILL PLANTE: Good morning, Harry. Well, maybe neither. But it turns out they didn't nickname her "Sarah Barracuda" for nothing. The new star of the Republican ticket has some has real bite, and that has Democrats in a dilemma: Do they go after her? Or would that backfire?
CLIP OF PALIN AT GOP CONVENTION: I was just your average hockey mom and signed up for the PTA.
PLANTE: McCain and Obama are in a statistical tie, and suddenly there's a lot of concern among Democrats: What to do? Newsweek's Howard Fineman quotes someone he calls a top Democratic strategist who says -- "we've got to go after her, and fast." [On screen graphic: "We've got to go after her, and fast"] But so far, Barack Obama's response is limited to mild sarcasm.
BARACK OBAMA AT CAMPAIGN RALLY: It's an interesting story. [hoots from audience] No, no, it is. I mean that sincerely, I mean, I think, you know, it's, you know, mother, governor, moose-shooter -- I mean, it's cool.
PLANTE: Why not tougher? For starters, almost two-thirds of the women in a CBS News poll say Palin is someone they could relate to. The blog "Women Count," which supported Hillary Clinton, was upset with suggestions that Palin might have difficulty balancing motherhood and the vice presidency. Regardless of the candidate's ideology, they wrote [words shown on screen]: "We will work to stamp out sexism where we see it on the campaign trail." And Tuesday night in Virginia, the McCain campaign thought it saw sexism when Obama charged that McCain talks change, but would continue President Bush's agenda.
OBAMA: You know, you can put lipstick on a pig. [cheers] It's still a pig.
PLANTE: McCain's newly formed Palin truth squad quickly accused Obama of comparing Palin to a pig and demanded an apology. Obama's staff called the charge pathetic. But Mike Feldman, a former Al Gore advisor, says the Democrats have to know where to draw the line.
MIKE FELDMAN, FORMER AL GORE ADVISOR: I think the Obama campaign and its surrogates have to be careful not to attack her personally. She's a very compelling and sympathetic figure.
HARRY SMITH: There you go. Alright, thanks very much, Bill Plante.
Interview with Michael Crowley, 7:06am EDT:
HARRY SMITH: First things first, want to talk about the lipstick on a pig comment. Gaffe? Intentional? Somewhere in between? What do you think?
MICHAEL CROWLEY, THE NEW REPUBLIC: Unintentional, pretty harmless comment that I think the McCain campaign wants us to discuss as a gaffe. I really think that Obama was not talking or thinking about Palin, but what this illustrates is the trouble that Palin causes for the Democratic ticket, because the Republicans are in a position to say [about] any comment like that, that's sexism, you're talking down to her, you're not showing respect to a woman. It's a really hard thing for Democrats to deal with, and you can tell they're a little psyched out by it. We'll see whether or not it works in the short term. I actually think it is working a little bit for the Republicans, to to Obama's dismay.
SMITH: There you go. She literally is the proverbial third rail. You touch it, you're going to get shocked.
CROWLEY: I think that's one reason they picked her. They knew they were going to be able to do that.
Also, I think Smith meant that Palin was “figuratively” the third rail, not “literally,” although that’s what he said. If she were an actual rail, she would presumably have somewhat less appeal to white working class women voters.
