Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) was warned by a judge warned against making disparaging remarks about her brother-in-law, leaving one blogger to declares her image taking a hit. Meanwhile Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton

Barack Obama didn't call Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) a pig, according to the traditional media and liberal bloggers, but conservative bloggers believe otherwise. It's John McCain who is guilty of smearing, according to Obama's online backers, who note the Republican's new ad accuses Obama of supporting sex education for kindergartners.

Obama used the "lipstick on a pig" idiom when trying to undermine McCain and Palin's case for change Tuesday. While McCain surrogates said that the pig Obama was talking about was Palin, Marc Ambinder reminds readers that it's a common analogy that Obama has used before. McCain himself has used the "lipstick on a pig" remark in the past, when he was arguing against the healthcare plan of then-First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, notes ABC's Jake Tapper. The McCain campaign is playing the gender card and is falsely claiming that Obama is being sexist, writes The Huffington Post's Ari Melber.

But neither Obama's "pig" remark nor his remark about an "old fish" was an accident, according to Townhall's Carol Platt Liebau, who thinks that Obama had both Palin and McCain in mind. Even if he wasn't talking about Palin, Obama has made a "bad gaffe" since many people believe that he was referring to her, writes The Corner's Yuval Levin.

McCain is the one unfairly attacking Obama by suggesting in a new ad that Obama, the father of two young daughters, voted to teach sex education to kindergartners, writes Daily Kos's georgia10. The bill Obama voted for in Illinois aimed to scare kids about sex, not teach them about it, notes TalkingPointsMemo reader JM. Even conservative blogger Allahpundit on Hot Air thinks that McCain has taken it too far, noting that former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) has supported similar policies.

FROM THE BLOGS:
A Piggish Debate - Jake Tapper, Political Punch
Obama Did Not Call Palin a Pig - Marc Ambinder
Phony Lipstick Charge Won't Fly - Jeralyn, TalkLeft
McCain Plays Gender Card - Ari Melber, Huffington Post
It's A Bad Gaffe - Yuval Levin, The Corner
'Pig' Remark No Accident - Carol Platt Liebau, Townhall.com
Obama Camp's Very Bad Day - Mark Hemingway, The Corner
Grand Old Perverts - georgia10, Daily Kos
McCain's Sleazy Campaign - Josh Marshall, TalkingPointsMemo
Defending The One - Allahpundit, Hot Air

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:
Palin Bounce Have Democrats Off Balance - LA Times
Palin Lifts McCain's Support - Wall Street Journal
As Campaign Heats Up, Untruths Can Become Facts - Wash. Post
Bailout Hurts Charities - The Hill

Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) is accused by conservative bloggers of going too far Tuesday suggesting Republicans who care about special needs children should support stem cell research. Liberals attack Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) for again saying that she fought against the "Bridge to Nowhere" and Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) may finally get the boot from Senate Democrats.

Biden's comments are "offensive and ignorant," especially for a senator who believes life begins at conception, The Corner's Kathryn Jean Lopez writes. Hot Air's Allahpundit doesn

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin

The traditional media is calling out Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) for being less than truthful about her record on earmarks, liberal bloggers eagerly note. Palin, however, has helped McCain pull ahead of of Barack Obama in national polls, prompting bloggers on both sides to ruminate on her appeal to women voters.

Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin made her first gaffe of the campaign exposing her lack of knowledge on economic issues, liberal bloggers say. Barack Obama is taking the kid gloves off and going after Palin over earmarks and new polling data has some liberals nervous about Obama

Oil drilling will continue to be the hot topic in Congress this week as lawmakers return from their August recess, bloggers decide, while a new ad posing John McCain and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) as

John McCain's new lead over Barack Obama in the latest national polls has some liberal bloggers suggesting patience and others calling for more attacks against McCain. Obama's suggestion Sunday that he thought about joining the military when he was younger raises skepticism among conservative bloggers. And the news that Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews are out as MSNBC's election night anchors pleases bloggers on both sides.

McCain leads Obama in the Gallup and Rasmussen tracking polls and in a USA Today poll. But before poll watchers put too much stock in the new numbers, they should account for McCain's current convention bounce and the fact that the campaign schedule lacks other major news events right now, writes FiveThirtyEight's Nate Silver. The polls show, however, that McCain has improved his standing among voters concerned about the economy, something that should make Obama increase his efforts to tie McCain to President Bush's domestic policies, writes TalkLeft's Big Tent Democrat. McCain's strategy of portraying Obama as a tax-and-spend liberal and his base-pleasing veep pick of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) seem to be working, writes Hot Air's Ed Morrissey.

Though Obama said on ABC News that he thought about joining the military while in college, Townhall's Carol Platt Liebau doubts that Obama actually did because he surrounded himself back then with the type of people who opposed the military's ban on gays. Obama didn't write much about his military views as a student in either of his two introspective books, writes RedState's Jeff Emanuel, who finds the Democrat's latest statement to be "dishonest opportunism."

With "partisans" Olbermann and Matthews anchoring its election coverage, MSNBC had crossed a journalistic line that Fox News tried to respect by separating talk shows from news shows, writes Contentions' Jennifer Rubin. The problem with Olbermann was that he wasn't willing to admit his bias for Obama since he started going after his opponents back in the primaries, according to Taylor Marsh. Olbermann had become just like Bill O'Reilly and other talk show hosts on the right in that he had stopped giving the news and began to give his own take on the news, writes TalkLeft's Jeralyn.

FROM THE BLOGS:
Patience, Poll Watchers - Nate Silver, FiveThirtyEight
McCain/Palin=Bush's Third Term - Big Tent Dem, TalkLeft
54-44 And Fight! - Ed Morrissey, Hot Air
Barack Claims He Wanted to Join Military - C.P. Liebau, Townhall
Sounds Like Dishonest Opportunism - Jeff Emanuel, RedState
Why Did Obama Say 'Muslim Faith'? - Althouse
Return of the Grown-Ups - Jennifer Rubin, Contentions
The Olbermann Train Wreck - Taylor Marsh
Olbermann and Matthews Dumped as Anchors - Jeralyn, TalkLeft
Olbermann's Exit Raises Questions - Jazz Shaw, Moderate Voice

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:
U.S. Seizes Mortgage Giants - Wall Street Journal
Poll: Convention Lifts McCain Over Obama - USA Today
Olbermann, Matthews Dropped As Anchors - Washington Post
Fusing Politics and Motherhood In New Way - New York Times

Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) is taking the right approach in going on the offensive against Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R), liberal bloggers declare, while John McCain