When presidential candidates appear at public forums, passions about the field are often on vivid display. Monday, Senator John McCain received a question from a woman in Hilton Head Island, S.C., that was blunt and harsh.

“How do we beat the bitch?” the woman asked.

Mr. McCain was obviously uncomfortable, trying to deflect the vitriol with humor and offering to give a translation. But he did not condemn the questioner, instead calling it an “excellent question.”

He then addressed the question without any apparent doubt as to whom it referred.

“There was a poll yesterday,” he said, “that shows me three points ahead of Senator Clinton in a head-to-head matchup. I respect Mrs. Clinton.”

Image A woman asked Senator John McCain about beating Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday in Hilton Head, S.C. Credit... tpmelectioncentral.com

The clip was first shown on the Web site, TPM Election Central, and later on Salon and other sites, with bloggers asking why Mr. McCain had not taken the questioner to task.