MSNBC political analyst Joe Watkins wants you to think that Sally Quinn and David Gergen sit around at Georgetown cocktail parties using phrases like “lipstick on a pig” -- and that regular Americans don't understand what all that Beltway fancy talk means:

It's not what you say, it's what people hear you saying it. And for people inside the Beltway, who have heard that term and terminology a thousand times, it means one thing, but to people out around the country who have never before heard that, and especially in light of the fact that you have a candidate like Sarah Palin now on the Republican ticket, the reason why they laughed so hard when he said it is they thought he was referring to Sarah Palin.

But a retired Bristol, VA police employee who was actually in the crowd for Barack Obama's comments, disagrees:

JoAnn Vicars, a retired Bristol police employee, thought Obama's remark was great: “Loved it!” She and several friends scoffed at the idea that Obama was talking about Palin.

“That's the way we talk, buddy,” Vicars said, in a raspy local accent.