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", a diversion from debating real issues.
The controversy began on Tuesday after Mr Obama said his rival was advocating change while pursuing the politics of the current Bush administration.
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 pitbull.
'Made-up' controversy
Mr Obama made the remark during a rally in Virginia where he 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.
 |  The famously thin-skinned porcine population of the US is up in trotters about the imputation of cross-dressing  Matt Frei BBC World News America |
"You can put lipstick on a pig. It's still a pig. You can wrap 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."
Mrs Palin, a self-described "hockey mom", made her joke about lipstick during a speech at the Republican National Convention last Wednesday.
Soon after Mr Obama's comments, McCain aides produced an election campaign ad referring to "sexism in American life", and accusing the Illinois senator of "smearing" Mrs Palin, governor of Alaska.
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.
From BBC.com
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