Unbelievable.

The crowd he was addressing had no doubt about what he meant. They seem to think it's pretty amusing.

Update: Here's the McCain response:

Suddenly, McCain/Obama battle over lipstick -- Porky's or Palin's. Could Obama be so stupid as to imply that his newest opponent is like a barnyard animal, this candidate they've tried to portray as an inexperienced lightweight from a rural area who seems to increasingly preoccupy Obama's monologues instead of the GOP's top candidate?

Is that smart for the No. 1 on the Democratic ticket to be so distracted by the No. 2 on the GOP side? And where is Biden in this debate?

To be sure, other candidates including McCain himself have used that pig line or similar pig references about their opponent's programs, implying you can't hide what a hog is merely by applying some makeup.

But, to be honest, pig among men is another word for an ugly woman. And none of those past references came so close on the heels of such a widely read, widely viewed and widely heard lipstick line as Palin's and with the two party's national tickets set, one of them with the first female in its party's history.

Coming in a context where everything in public dialogue is perceived as political and the lawyerly Obama always appears to measure his words so carefully, it hardly seemed an accident.

Fight the Smears About Sarah Palin.