MORNING READ

Barack Obama didn’t call Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) a pig, according to the traditional media and liberal bloggers, but conservative bloggers believe otherwise. It’s John McCain who is guilty of smearing, according to Obama’s online backers, who note the Republican’s new ad accuses Obama of supporting sex education for kindergartners.

Obama used the “lipstick on a pig” idiom when trying to undermine McCain and Palin’s case for change Tuesday. While McCain surrogates said that the pig Obama was talking about was Palin, Marc Ambinder reminds readers that it’s a common analogy that Obama has used before. McCain himself has used the “lipstick on a pig” remark in the past, when he was arguing against the healthcare plan of then-First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, notes ABC’s Jake Tapper. The McCain campaign is playing the gender card and is falsely claiming that Obama is being sexist, writes The Huffington Post’s Ari Melber.

But neither Obama’s “pig” remark nor his remark about an “old fish” was an accident, according to Townhall’s Carol Platt Liebau, who thinks that Obama had both Palin and McCain in mind. Even if he wasn’t talking about Palin, Obama has made a “bad gaffe” since many people believe that he was referring to her, writes The Corner’s Yuval Levin.

McCain is the one unfairly attacking Obama by suggesting in a new ad that Obama, the father of two young daughters, voted to teach sex education to kindergartners, writes Daily Kos’s georgia10. The bill Obama voted for in Illinois aimed to scare kids about sex, not teach them about it, notes TalkingPointsMemo reader JM. Even conservative blogger Allahpundit on Hot Air thinks that McCain has taken it too far, noting that former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) has supported similar policies.

FROM THE BLOGS:
A Piggish Debate – Jake Tapper, Political Punch
Obama Did Not Call Palin a Pig – Marc Ambinder
Phony Lipstick Charge Won’t Fly – Jeralyn, TalkLeft
McCain Plays Gender Card – Ari Melber, Huffington Post
It’s A Bad Gaffe – Yuval Levin, The Corner
‘Pig’ Remark No Accident – Carol Platt Liebau, Townhall.com
Obama Camp’s Very Bad Day – Mark Hemingway, The Corner
Grand Old Perverts – georgia10, Daily Kos
McCain’s Sleazy Campaign – Josh Marshall, TalkingPointsMemo
Defending The One – Allahpundit, Hot Air

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:
Palin Bounce Have Democrats Off Balance – LA Times
Palin Lifts McCain’s Support – Wall Street Journal
As Campaign Heats Up, Untruths Can Become Facts – Wash. Post
Bailout Hurts Charities – The Hill