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Official Democrat website: Palin pick 'lipstick on a pig'
Posting with photograph of dolled-up swine made before Obama's controversial remarks

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Posted: September 10, 2008
10:24 am Eastern

By Aaron Klein
© 2008 WorldNetDaily

 

Image posted on Democratic National Committee website

The official website of the Democratic Party has a blog posting entitled, "McCain's Selection of Palin is Lipstick on a Pig," illustrated by an altered photograph of a pig with makeup, designer glasses and pearls.

"Palin is a red herring, lipstick on the Republican pig to distract Americans from the real issue that under the leadership of the Republicans the last 8 years, our country is falling apart," writes the blogger, Elizabeth Berry, a self-described 49-year-old "progressive" from Texas.

The posting was published 11 days ago, well before Sen. Barack Obama drew sharp criticism yesterday when he jabbed at Palin and Sen. John McCain's idea of "change" by stating, 'You can put lipstick on a pig, it's still a pig.'"

Obama was speaking at a campaign event in Virginia.

Like Obama's official campaign site, the official Democratic Party website allows registered members to post user blogs. The Democratic site, paid for by the Democratic National Committee, features tens of thousands of user blog postings. It wasn't clear whether the website staff monitors the large volume of content posted daily. It is doubtful Obama's staff was aware of the pig posting.

At a campaign appearance in Norfolk, Va., this morning, Obama took time from his prepared remarks to respond to the controversy, insisting it was an "innocent comment." The Democratic candidate alluded to a McCain campaign ad today that suggested the comment was sexist, calling it "lies and phony outrage and swift-boat politics."

In her Aug. 30 posting on the Democratic Party website, registered user Berry lashes out at Palin:

"Palin does not change one single thing of what the Republicans are offering which is four more years of George Bush. All that McCain did was to put lipstick on the Pig.

"The same people who do not like the Bush Administration for what it has done to this nation are not going to be fooled by the lipstick on the pig. And it they think that the American public are so stupid that they will rush over now and kiss their pig of a platform because it is wearing a fresh touch of lipstick, well I think they will be surprised."

Talk radio host John Batchelor, who first noticed Berry's blog posting, commented, "This blog on the official Democratic site may or may not demonstrate that Obama's colorful anecdote in Lebanon, Virginia, was scripted by a staffer who was impressed by Elizabeth Berry's enthusiastic sarcasm. It does establish that at least one Democrat interpreted right from the first, even before Palin's speech, that Sarah Palin was a threat."

The complete statement from Obama yesterday was: "John McCain says he's about change, too, and so I guess his whole angle is 'Watch out, George Bush, except for economic policy, health care policy, tax policy, education policy, foreign policy and Karl Rove-style politics – we're really going to shake things up in Washington!' That's not change ... you know, you can put lipstick on a pig, it's still a pig."