Putting lipstick on a pig

Barack Obama is quoted to say, “You know you can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig.”
Republican Claims
The problem according to the McCain people, is that it was too close to Sarah Palin’s stump speech phrase, “You know the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? Lipstick.”
As a result, the McCain campaign is saying that Obama called Palin a pig. And they went hog-wild in responding to the alleged smear. “Ultimately, I think the American people will realize that calling a very prominent female governor of one of our states a pig is not exactly what we want to see when we supposedly are going to have this great debate that is the politics of hope,” they say. And they have put together campaign add immediately :

Barack's people responded
"Enough is enough. The McCain campaign’s attack tonight is a pathetic attempt to play the gender card about the use of a common analogy – the same analogy that Senator McCain himself used about Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s health care plan just last year. This phony lecture on gender sensitivity is the height of cynicism and lays bare the increasingly dishonorable campaign John McCain has chosen to run."

My Take
I agree with Barack's camp on one thing. Any one who has seen complete speech and not only campaign add put together by McCain camp will also agree with me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPd4yk0x-eg
This is common analogy. Here is somethign i have found in book of knowledge:
A term used by many, generally in reference to someone who may be trying to make something or someone look appealing or attractive when it quite clearly will not work, or will only deceive the dumbest of people. Car salesmen are generally good at "putting lipstick on a pig" because they are always selling unroadworthy buckets of shit and try and hide their shitfulness by tarting them up. Example: The dude in that car yard just put a body kit on that piece of shit. Talk about putting lipstick on a pig

Where I Disagree
Where I disagree with Barack's camp is, the argument that Sen. McCain has used the same for Hillary's healthcare plan and Hillary had not used lipstick in her speech. And if I put myself in shoes (Or Sandles) of Democrate faminist groups it definitely has sexism touch, though that is not how i think myself.
What i believe is that Barack is not fool, unless I am wrong about him, to use this cheap shot and loose his credibility as different candidate. Which I think day by day more and more people thinks he is not.
Second traditionally, VP candidates are for attacking opponent President and VP candidates and not President hopeful normally does attacking. Where Barack proved surprisingly he is different candidate, he has used his acceptance speech more to attack Sen. McCain and President Bush in absence of VP candidate, more than Biden did in his speech.
Keeping this issue aside, in my mind he is making bigger mistake of attacking Gov. Sarah Palin himself, because by doing so he is actually raising her at his level. And that is helping McCain - Palin camp more than anything else.