Hotline After Dark -- Read My Lips-tick

Talk of Barack Obama's "lipstick on a pig" remark continued last night. Obama was asked about it during an appearance on CBS' "Late Show."

David Letterman: "Have you ever actually put lipstick on a pig?"

Obama: "You know, the answer would be no. But I think it might be fun to try."

Letterman: "I know the reaction to that was, you were overreacting. You stand by that?"

Obama: "Absolutely. ... This is sort of silly season in politics. Not that there's a non-silly season in politics. But it gets sillier. And, you know, it's a common expression in, at least, Illinois. I don't know about New York City. I don't know where you put lipstick on here" (CBS, 9/10).

After the jump, Obama vs. O'Reilly and the celebrity argument reemerges.

(KATHERINE LEHR)

Politico's Simon, on John McCain's web ad: "It wasn't an honest ad, but it was a clever ad. They had a clever follow-up. ... Oh, he is not a sexist? How come he didn't pick Hillary Clinton? That's their second line of attack. And the Obama campaign should have had Hillary Clinton out here for the last 12 hours on every TV show in the world saying, 'No one has competed harder against this man. I will tell you he is not a sexist.' Not just a statement. Where is Hillary Clinton?" ("Hardball," MSNBC, 9/10).

Washington Examiner's Sammon, asked if Obama should have responded: "I think Obama had to. He couldn't send a surrogate or a spokesman or put out a press release. This thing had are risen to the level where the candidate himself had to personally address specifically head on this issue of him allegedly calling Governor Palin a pig. He clearly was not trying to call governor Palin a pig, but he did commit a political gaffe. ... Which was to give his enemies fodder" ("Special Report," FNC, 9/10).

CNN's Borger: "It is clear with this lipstick on a pig thing that the McCain campaign is spoiling for a fight. First of all, they came out talking about being reformers and the party of change. Now they're looking for women voters. And that's what this is about. It's an election. It's a war, and they're looking for a fight, and they have got one. And they do have Barack Obama back on his heels" ("Election Center," CNN, 9/10).

LOVE AND BASKETBALL

"O'Reilly Factor" aired the fourth and final part of FNC's O'Reilly's interview with Obama.

O'Reilly, on Obama's proposal to give $150B to alternative energy: "What if solar, wind, and hydro don't work?"

Obama: "But that was true for the space program. Kennedy didn't know how we were going to go to the moon. The nature of discovery and research and innovation is you put money into a whole bunch of promising pots. It's like venture capital. And you figure out what works. And some things are going to work, and some things are not."

O'Reilly, on Obama saying ANWR is a problem: "What, a caribou is going to be scared? Come on. You're with the folks that can't pay their heating bill and you're worried about a caribou going what's that pipeline doing?"

Obama: "One of the great things about this country, we've got some beautiful real estate here. ... We are lucky to have some of the most beautiful real estate on earth. And we want to make sure that..."

O'Reilly: "You're making me cry here."

Obama: "We want to make sure we're passing it on to the next generation. But this notion that I'm opposed to nuclear power, it's just not true."

Obama, asked why the Germans won't fight against the Taliban: "Part of the reason is, is that we soured our relationship with the Europeans after Iraq. And, you know, when I went over to Europe, and if you listened to that speech in Berlin, which you know, a lot of your buddies had a good time making fun of ... one of the things I said in that speech is you cannot think that the Americans are going to just carry all the freight on this thing. You guys have to step up to the plate."

O'Reilly: "Now, final question for you. I think I can kick your butt in one on one basketball."

Obama: "You've got height. ... But I think I've got speed."

O'Reilly: "But you've got youth. I'm an old -- I'm 73 years old."

Obama: "Are you 73?"

O'Reilly: "Yes, this is botox. ... How many are you going to spot me on a one on one game?"

Obama: "I'd spot you 10."

O'Reilly: "You'd spot me 10. That's pretty cocky. That's pretty cocky. So now I win, all right, I want to be secretary of state" (FNC, 9/10).

MOST RANDOM STORY EVER

The Nation's Berman was on the "Rachel Maddow Show" last night to discuss a picture running in the mag's issue today. The picture, taken in Aug. '06 on a yacht in Montenegro, is of McCain and Ann Hathaway ex-boyfriend/Italian entrepreneur Raffaello Follieri, who pled guilty 9/10 to a conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering.

Berman: "John McCain was in Montenegro as part of a trip there with a bunch of Republican senators celebrating Montenegrin independence. ... But he seemed to have found time while on that visit for a little birthday celebration. And he chose to have his birthday celebration of all places ... with an Italian playboy and his movie star girlfriend on a yacht with champagne and cake. And it's kind of an interesting indictment of McCain because he's been going around talking about what a celebrity Barack Obama is."

MSNBC's Maddow: "Do we know why Raffaello Follieri ... hired Rick Davis' lobbying firm and whether or not that connection had anything at all to do with John McCain?"

Berman: "It's not the kind of place where Raffaello Follieri would normally hang out. He'd probably find a more glamorous house. So, we think he was there because McCain was there. And what happened after that yacht party with McCain is he ended up, you know, sending Rick Davis business information, trying to get an investment firm that Rick Davis represented to invest with his own investments. And then, a month later, in February 2007, actually hired, according to New York Daily News, actually hired Rick Davis' business partner from his lobbying firm, Davis Manafort, a man named Rick Gates" (MSNBC, 9/10).