Obama rejects 'lipstick' charge

The US Democratic presidential candidate has denied claims of sexism after likening his rival's promise of change to putting "lipstick on a pig".

Barack Obama said Republican John McCain's outrage was "phoney" and he was interested in debating real issues.

The "made-up controversy" began on Tuesday after Mr Obama accused his rival of pursuing politics of the current government.

Mr McCain's campaign accused him of smearing running mate Sarah Palin.

Mrs Palin joked last week that lipstick was all that separated a "hockey mom" and a pit bull.

'Offensive'

The remark was made during a rally in Virginia as Mr Obama accused the McCain campaign of trying suddenly to adopt the promise of change - a platform he himself has been running on for months.

Drawing a link between the Republican senator for Arizona and President George W Bush, he suggested change would be impossible for Mr McCain to achieve.

"Now think about it, these are the same folks that have been in charge for the last eight years," he said.

"You can put lipstick on a pig. It's still a pig. You can wrap up up an old fish in a piece of paper and call it change. It's still going to stink after eight years. We've had enough."

The McCain campaign responded by accusing him of "smearing" Mrs Palin, governor of Alaska, in "offensive and disgraceful" comments and demanded an apology.

And there was speculation that Mr Obama might apologise, but he took a more aggressive line, says the BBC's Kevin Connolly in Washington.

He dismissed the "made-up controversy" on Wednesday - defending his remark as an "innocent expression".

Mr Obama said his comments had been taken out of context.

"The McCain campaign would much rather have the story about phoney and foolish diversions than about the future," the Illinois senator said.

Mrs Palin, a self-described "hockey mom", made her joke about lipstick during a speech at the Republican National Convention last Wednesday.

The row erupted as a new poll by the Wall Street Journal and NBC News suggested that Mr Obama and Mr McCain were in a statistical dead heat. Mr Obama held a lead of several points earlier this summer.

Another poll by CNN and the Opinion Research Foundation also put the rival candidates in a statistical tie, with Mr Obama polling 49% to Mr McCain's 48%.

The latest Gallup daily tracking poll of registered voters gave Mr McCain a lead of 49% to Mr Obama's 44%.