I gotta think that at this point they're just making shit up and counting on the press not to call them on it. Within 12 hours they're running this argument...

At the Crain's Business Forum this morning, Paterson drew attention to a phrase used numerous times by speakers at the Republican National Convention to describe Barack Obama's leadership experience: community organizer. "I think the Republican Party is too smart to call Barack Obama 'black' in a sense that it would be a negative. But you can take something about his life, which I noticed they did at the Republican Convention - a 'community organizer.' They kept saying it, they kept laughing," he said.

... along with this argument:

"You know, you can put lipstick on a pig," Obama said, "but it's still a pig." 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."... Obama senior adviser Robert Gibbs insists the senator was not referring to Palin. "That's an old expression," Gibbs says.

And that, in turn, was their second condescending Palin/lipstick reference today. I don't mind so much that they're wallowing in the most shameless kind of identity politics. What bothers me is that they're so bad at it. Post-partisan, post-identity hope and change - feel it.

References:
* McCain Campaign Fumes Over Paterson's Racism Claim [CBS]
* Obama Says McCain Is Offering Fake Change: 'You Can Put Lipstick on a Pig, But It's Still a Pig' [Political Punch]
* Carnahan: 'There's no way you can dress up that record even with a lot of lipstick' [Politico]

Previously:
* CNN Spends Evening Searching For Democrat Who Can Explain Why Anti-Palin Smears Don't Reek Of Sexism. Fails. (Plus: Guess When "Shrill" Used To Be Sexist)
* Progressives Spreading Around Fake Palin Bikini Pic, Gloating About Inexperience And "Patriotic Valley Trash"
* Hey Gals, Check This Out - Medical Gender Apartheid Being Enforced In Muslim Countries By Divorce, Murder