Posted by Jed Lewison on Wed Sep 17, 2008 at 1:01 AM Pacific

Lipstick, Pigs, And The Meta Narrative

When the Republicans hemorrhaged outrage over Barack Obama's "lipstick" comment it really didn't have anything to do with the comment itself. Rather, it was an effort designed to extract an apology from Barack Obama, an apology that would have made him look weak and would have fueled the typical Republican attack strategy that has worked so often in the past.

Of course, the GOP gambit failed miserably -- indeed, their core accusation was so silly, it touched off a firestorm of bad press about McCain's dishonesty that is only now being replaced by yet another round of bad press about McCain's economic cluelessness.

In the end, the most important thing isn't just that Barack Obama had the strength to stand his ground in the face of the Republican attack machine, it's that John McCain himself has now backed down, conceding that his campaign's line of attack was wrong.

McCain's concession wasn't an apology, but none was demanded or requested. It was, however, an admission by McCain that he and his campaign were wrong. He did what he had promised never to do: he surrendered.

Because of that, the next time McCain tries to rev up an outrage, people will probably be a bit more skeptical, and even his own supporters will wonder if McCain will stick with the attack all the way through.

On the other hand, Obama supporters will have more confidence that their candidate will stand up for himself and, more importantly, that he'll stand up for them.

Just like there's nothing more deflating in a campaign than to have your candidate cave in and abandon a position that you've been supporting them on, there's nothing more energizing than having a candidate who is fired up and standing right there along side you. And in this episode, it was Barack Obama who stood his ground, and it was John McCain who flinched.