FRANKLY, THEY'RE BOTH GOP PIGS

There's nothing left of the McCain of 2000. He's gone from being a maverick to being a Bush clone. Palin is simply a joke.

Feeling a Challenge, Obama Sharpens His Silver Tongue
By JEFF ZELENY
Published: September 9, 2008
NY Times

“John McCain says he’s about change, too — except for economic policy, health care policy, tax policy, education policy, foreign policy and Karl Rove-style politics,” Mr. Obama told his supporters here. “That’s just calling the same thing something different.”

With a laugh, he added: “You can put lipstick on a pig; 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'm puzzled about this comment by ABC's Jake Tapper:

The crowd rose and applauded, some of them no doubt thinking he may have been alluding to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's ad lib during her vice presidential nomination acceptance speech last week, "What's the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? Lipstick."

How does Tapper KNOW that? The reporter for the NY Times, who was also there, didn't get that impression:

In the latest sign of the campaign’s heightened intensity, Mr. McCain’s surrogates responded within minutes and called on Mr. Obama to apologize to Gov. Sarah Palin for the lipstick remark. But to those in the audience, it was clear that Mr. Obama was employing an age-old phrase — lipstick on a pig — and referring to Mr. McCain’s policies. He had not yet mentioned Ms. Palin at that point of his speech.