As a simple Google search for “pig and lipstick” will remind you, hundreds of pundits, bloggers, and conservatives bashed Barack Obama yesterday for using the phrase, “You can put lipstick on a pig; it’s still a pig.”
Some (including solemn front-page finger-wagging in two of New York City’s dailies) saw the comment as a jab at vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin. All these critics piled up on Obama yesterday, criticizing his perceived insensitive speech.
What did Obama say? What did Obama mean? Oddly enough, author Shelly Leanne has dedicated a whole book to that very question. Next month her communication handbook, Say it Like Obama: The Power of Speaking with Purpose and Vision hits shelves. Seizing the gossipy Zeitgeist, I asked Leanne to suggest how her favorite candidate can rescue himself from this mud puddle.
She responded…
“Senator Barack Obama has shown a keen ability to deliver tough responses needed to demonstrate he is strong, while avoiding the appearance of mudslinging … In light of the biting words uttered by Sarah Palin at the Republican Convention and thereafter, Obama must remain firm in his responses to distortions of his record. Some people suggest he must be more cautious because Palin is a woman, but if he tempers his words too much, he will appear weak and allow any false allegations to spread unchecked.”