During his 1984 presidential primary, Senator Gary Hart sought to cleverly position himself as the candidate of “new ideas.” When he and Democratic rival Walter Mondale debated, the former vice president invoked a popular TV commercial for Wendy’s hamburger chain. Mondale said, “When I hear your new ideas, I’m reminded of that ad, ‘Where’s the beef?’”

This year, there is no beef. Instead, everyone is pigging out on pigs. Especially pigs with lipstick. And perhaps that’s fitting imagery for those peddling political slop. They are giving both pigs and lipstick a bad name.

This trite mini-debate was kicked off at the Republican National Convention when John McCain’s running mate, a self-described hockey mom, said the only difference between a pit bull and a hockey mom was lipstick.

In what was a clear reference to George W. Bush’s failing policies – and his contention that John McCain would continue those policies – Barack Obama said, “…You can put lipstick on a pig, it’s still a pig.”

The McCain camp, pretending to be outraged, accused Obama of referring to vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin. Their argument? She’s the only one in the race who wears lipstick.

As far-fetched as that seems, it is even more incredulous when you realize that McCain has used similar language at least twice.

According to Time magazine, “While campaigning in Iowa in October 2007, Senator John MCain used the popular expression to criticize Hillary Clinton’s revamped health care plan, arguing that it wasn’t much different from the one she unsuccessfully pushed in 1993. ‘I think they put some lipstick on the pig, but it’s still a pig,’ he said.

“McCain brought up the phrase again in May of this year to describe Clinton’s health care plan at a town hall in Denver: ‘I don’t like to use the term, but the latest proposal I see is putting lipstick on a pig,’ he said.”

Apparently, McCain does like using the term.

This unsightly debate over pigs and cosmetics is part of a larger Republican strategy to keep Obama on the defensive by forcing him to address phony issues, such as whether he referred to Sarah Palin as a pig.

Even more troubling is McCain’s willingness to keep lying about the GOP’s record, even after the lies have been exposed. For example, despite the record clearly showing that Palin favored the so-called “Bridge to Nowhere” until the federal government decided to drop the project, the GOP keeps insisting that Palin opposed the bridge; she opposed it only after the fact.

In her Sept. 3 convention speech, Palin bragged about cutting state spending. She said, “… That luxury jet was over-the-top. I put it on eBay.” McCain went even further: "You know what I enjoyed the most? She took the luxury jet that was acquired by her predecessor and sold it on eBay — and made a profit!"

But the plane was never sold on eBay.

According to FactCheck.org, “After attempts to sell the plane on the online auction site failed to produce the desired result, the state turned to Turbo North Aviation, an aircraft dealing company, to find a buyer… the state didn't make a profit; instead, it lost money on the deal.”

The pigs in lipstick episode is yet another example of the McCain-Palin team’s untruthfulness. But they are not the only ones obsessed with the down-home expression.

Campaigning in September 2004, Democratic vice presidential nominee, John Edwards discussing Republican efforts to put a good face on poor employment figures, said: “They’re going to try every way they know to put lipstick on this pig. But, you know when you put lipstick on a pig, at the end of the day, it’s still a pig.”

Two months later, Edwards’ counterpart, Vice President Dick Cheney, derided John Kerry’s national security credentials. “He’s trying every which way to cover up his record of weakness on national defense,” Cheney said, referring to Kerry. “But he can’t do it. It won’t work. As we like to say in Wyoming, you can put all the lipstick you want on a pig, but at the end of the day it’s still a pig.”

John McCain professed opposition to sexism is hard to swallow in view of his past behavior.

In Sunday’s Chicago Tribune, columnist Steve Chapman recalled: “Last year, at a campaign event in South Carolina, John McCain called on a woman who had a question about the expected Democratic nominee. ‘How do we beat the bitch?’ she asked. McCain laughed, said, ‘That's an excellent question,’ and noted he was leading Hillary Clinton in a poll, before assuring his audience that ‘I respect Sen. Clinton.’”

Laughing when the B-word is used to refer to a female colleague is hardly an indication of “respect.” No self-respecting pig – with or without lipstick – would fall for that line.