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With the US presidential race neck and neck in the struggle for women voters, John McCain today said a remark about lipstick by rival Barack Obama was a sexist attack on his running mate Sarah Palin.

Mr Obama in turn denounced Republicans for "lies and phony outrage." 

“What their campaign has done this morning is the same game that has made people sick and tired of politics in this country," he said.

"They seize on an innocent remark, try to take it out of context, throw up an outrageous ad because they know that it's catnip for the news media." 

Mr McCain rolled out a web advertisement today saying his Democratic rival was talking about Sarah Palin yesterday when he likened Republican plans for government reform to putting "lipstick on a pig".

Ms Palin, a little-known Alaska governor before she became Mr McCain's running mate, had told the Republican nominating convention this month that she was a "hockey mom" and joked that the only difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull was lipstick.

Mr McCain's new advertisement juxtaposes the lipstick remarks by Mr Obama and Ms Palin, then cuts to a TV news presenter observing that one lesson of the campaign was the "continued and accepted role of sexism in American life."

"Ready to lead? No," Mr McCain's ad says in print across the TV screen. "Ready to smear? Yes."

Mr Obama's campaign spokeswoman Linda Douglass said it was clear from his remarks yesterday that the Democratic presidential candidate was not referring to Ms Palin in his comments and was not calling her a pig.

"There is no doubt that the McCain campaign is doing everything it can do to distract voters from the fact that they have no solutions to America's economic troubles," she said.