NORFOLK, VA - At a town hall meeting in Virginia’s Tidewater region, Barack Obama took a few minute of the education-themed event to address concerns that he may have offended John McCain’s running mate, Sarah Palin at an event yesterday on other side of the state.

That would be, of course, his use of the “L” word to knock the McCain/Palin promise for change. “You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig,” he said less than 24 hours ago, generating a McCain-induced whirlwind of media coverage around whether or not what he said was sexist.

“We are here to talk about education, but, you know, I’m running for president, so that means I’ve got to spend a just a brief moment talking a little bit about politics,” Obama said apologetically to a roomful of teachers, parents, and school board officials. “Before we begin today, I want to say a few words about the latest, made up controversy by the John McCain campaign,” he continued as the crowd chuckled.

Obama proclaimed his comment was innocent and taken out of context - and pushed onto the willing media like “catnip.” He scoffed at their “outrageous ad” released this morning, which was played on the morning TV shows, and explained it was all a calculated effort by the GOP. “[The McCain campaign] would much rather have the story about phony and foolish diversions than about the future,” he said.

An exasperated Obama ticked off the ills facing the nation - including a tanking economy, two wars, and an energy crisis - and incredulously exclaimed, “And this is what they want to talk about? This is what they want to spend two of the last 55 days talking about?”

The lipstick flap  comes after Obama has accused the McCain campaign of trying to make the election about character and personality instead of issues - so far successfully, it would seem. Frustrated, Obama declared, “I don’t care what they say about me, but I love this country too much to let them take over another election with lies and phony outrage and swift boat politics. Enough is enough!”

But with so many news outlets - especially cable and Internet - influencing the news cycle, it seems as though personalities, gaffes, and yes, even made up controversies will continue to make their way to the forefront of political coverage. “This is a game that we play. It’s a game. It’s a sport. And maybe if this wasn’t such a serious time it would be okay,” Obama said.

So how does he plan on cutting through the Republicans’ effective tactics?

“We are just going to keep on presenting the facts, truthfully, forcefully, consistently every day. We are going to hammer away at the fact that the stakes in this election are too high. They have to do with whether we can rebuild the middle class and put this country back on a pathway to success in the 21st century competitive, global economy. We’re going to hammer away at that every single day. And I trust the American people to pay attention,” he explained.

Barack Obama has been busy making the point that while McCain and Palin are peddling change, they’re really just offering more of the same. At his town hall meeting in Virginia this evening, Obama unloaded on the Republican ticket once again - adding a line that seems to have caused a stir. Even if that line is as common to politics as are the recent promises from both sides for change.

“You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig,” he said to cheers. “You can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called change; it’s still going to stink after 8 years. We’ve had enough of the same old thing. It’s time to bring about real change to Washington,” he added.

Before Obama’s event was even over, the McCain camp announced a conference call with reporters to address Obama’s ‘lipstick on a pig’ comments — the debut of the “Palin Truth Squad.” The squad, announced today, is described by the McCain campaign as a network that will “set the record straight against Internet and liberal smears of Governor Palin.”

Certainly being compared to a pig would constitute a smear, which is what the Squad accused Obama of really saying about Palin. But then candidates have been talking lipstick and pigs for years, the Obama campaign pointed out.

“That expression is older than my grandfather’s grandfather and it means that you can dress something up but it doesn’t change what it is,” spokesperson Jen Psaki explained in an email.

But this year, with a self professed lipstick-wearing candidate/hockey mom/pit pull in the race, does it change the connotation?

Perhaps, but even John McCain has used the line before. Last year. About a woman named Hillary Clinton.

When talking about then-frontrunner Clinton’s health care plan, then underdog McCain said, “I think they put some lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig.”

Surely Hillary Clinton has worn lipstick before.

Jacketless and surrounded by staffers, Secret Service, and press, Obama stopped by the home of Andy and Melissa Evers in Union Mills, IN, yesterday – the second time the candidate has made a media event out of visiting an Indiana voter’s home.

A farming family, the Evers welcomed the motley crew onto their property while Obama’s multi-bus motorcaded idled on the sleepy country road in front of their farm. About twenty of the Evers’ neighbors and friends came to mingle with the candidate and to discuss issues like the economy and gas prices while the candidate sat at a picnic table in the backyard - press surrounded the otherwise normal conversation.

After about 25 minutes, Obama announced it was time to leave. One of the neighbors wondered if Obama had the time to shoot some hoops with the Evers’ son, 14-year-old Aaron Villicana. Rolling up his sleeves and heading over to the basketball hoop in the driveway, the always competitive candidate said, “We’ll play a quick game of Pig.”

The game – traditionally referred to as Horse – is played by each participant taking a shot. If the shot is made, the challenger attempts to make the same shot. If that person misses, he is awarded a letter. The first one to spell out the name of the animal, in this case Pig, is the loser.

Obama let Aaron shoot first, noting the kid’s “home court advantage.” Aaron missed. Obama took the ball and said, “Let’s see what I got.” Obama missed. “As an older guy, this dimming light is a disadvantage,” he explained as dusk approached.

Aaron held his own against Obama, who just this week played with the UNC Tarheels - the very same team that was in the NCAA playoffs last month. The score was P-I to P- I and remained such for some time as both Aaron and Obama missed shot after shot after shot. Obama joked, “My shot is broke! We are in Indiana – we’re supposed to be making these.” Indiana is, after all, the Hoosier State.

“We want to make it close and add to the drama,” he said with a smile. Of course everybody observing immediately likened the pickup game to the race for the Democratic nomination. With no end in sight it began drizzling. An audio technician from one of the television networks holding a boom mic finally said what everyone watching was thinking. “Come on, Senator, put it to bed.”

“You know, he’s tough,” Obama replied. “He keeps on coming back. He’s like Hillary!” The spectators all laughed and Obama took another shot. Swish. Aaron missed the shot and the victory was Obama’s. Read into this if you want - or don’t.