Ad Hawk: Who's 'Disrespectful' Now?

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What... did you expect them to talk about John McCain?

With the release this morning of its latest ad, "Disrespectful," the McCain operation continues its transformation from a "campaign for the presidency" to "an effort to depict Sarah Palin as the victim of rampant sexism." Personally, I'm not particularly interested in the parts of the ad that claim Obama and Co. "lashed out" at Palin by saying she was "doing what she was told" and "call[ing] her a liar." That's because I'm not sure how either of those two charges is sexist, or even "disrespectful," really. In the first case, the quote, which is supposed to imply that Palin was meekly following orders, was taken completely out of context; originally, David Axelrod said that Palin made a false claim about Obama's legislative record and added, "maybe that's what she was told." The new sexism: people telling other people things! As for the second accusation, come on. It's not chauvinist--or disrespectful--to point out when your opponent is lying. Even if she's a woman. This is politics.

The other charge--that "they" "dismissed her as "good looking"--is more interesting, though. It's true that Joe Biden used the adjective "good-looking" to describe Palin. But a quick glance at the actual exchange reveals that Biden wasn't being "dismissive," as the ad alleges--he was being self-deprecating. Here's an expanded transcript:

"There's a gigantic--gigantic--difference between John McCain and Barack Obama, and between me and I suspect my vice presidential opponent. And that is that--" The crowd laughed. "Well there's obvious differences," Biden said, beginning to ham it up. "She's good looking," he said, laughing. "You know there's obvious differences. But there's a whole lot -- "A woman shouted: "you're gorgeous!" to Biden. "Where's that person?" Biden asked. "Who said that? Who said that? Would you say that again for my wife?" "You're gorgeous!" the woman yelled. "Oh, I tell you what, would you make sure Jill hears that?" Biden joked... "I haven't heard that in a long, long, long time. And hanging out with this lean, young-looking guy is making me feel pretty old, you know what I mean?"

I suppose I can see why some folks would interpret this as sexist--even though Biden was really just putting himself down. That said, it's a little rich for McCain to be calling Biden disrespectful for merely mentioning looks when he was the one who in 1988 said that Dan Quayle's appearance alone would draw women to the Republican ticket. Here's the Washington Post from Aug. 19, 1988:

Republican strategists are betting that Quayle's youth and his telegenic good looks will help him with younger voters and with women voters who are staying away from Bush in droves. Sen. John S. McCain of Arizona described him as "extremely telegenic in this day of television and images," and said: "I can't believe a guy that handsome wouldn't be attractive in some respect" to women.

The notion that Bush had picked the prettiest man in the Senate to help him with women voters touched off an incendiary reaction suggesting that the candidate had been what the British call too clever by half. "Whether it was just aides misspeaking or the truth, it was a supreme slap at women," says Irene Natividad, head of the National Women's Political Caucus. "To the women who are stretched so thinly between work and family, a pretty face isn't the answer. They want real policies and they want leaders who understand what their real lives are."