Look at this picture of Gov. Sarah Palin (in her Alaska governor days); she's loping around Juneau with her hair looking all crazy in that dog-tired brown warmup jacket and a pair of moose-skin boots. Fast forward to her appearances as Sen. John McCain's number two; see the flashy high-end shoes, upgraded and stylish outfits, expensive looking leather jacket. Hmmmm... something happened between then and now... something big... something with a bunch of zeros after it!It has been reported by Politico.com that the Republican National Committee (RNC) has spent more than $150,000 on fashionable clothes for Sarah Palin since she was named McCain's running mate. Yeah, all those Joe Six-Packs and hockey moms and Joe the Plumbers out there who make a fraction of that in one year, the ones who've been watching their 401(k)'s disappear like water swirling in the bowl after a successful visit by Joe the Plumber have been hootin' and hollerin' for a woman who has spent double or triple their income in clothes over the past seven weeks.
And mind you, she hasn't been shopping in Sears, or Steinmart, or Wal-Mart, or JC Penney, or Belk like the everyday people she claims to represent. No, Ms. Palin has been ringing the registers in places like Saks Fifth Avenue in Manhattan (to the tune of $49,425) and Neiman-Marcus in Minneapolis (at $75,062). Now I'm sure the McCain campaign wanted to spruce her up from her velour jogging suits and ratty house dresses that she wore in Wasilla, AK, but spending $150,000 on someone who would only be campaigning for little more than 10 weeks? That comes out to about $15,000 a week... just for clothes! Just imagine what its costing to fuel that jet that has her jumping from swing state to swing state?
Politico.com goes into detail with the expenditures:
According to financial disclosure records, the accessorizing began in early September and included bills from Saks Fifth Avenue in St. Louis and New York for a combined $49,425.74.
The records also document a couple of big-time shopping trips to Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis, including one $75,062.63 spree in early September.
The RNC also spent $4,716.49 on hair and makeup through September after reporting no such costs in August.
September payments were also made to Barney’s New York ($789.72) and Bloomingdale’s New York ($5,102.71).
Macy’s in Minneapolis, another store fortunate enough to be situated in the Twin Cities that hosted last summer’s Republican National Convention, received three separate payments totaling $9,447.71.
The entries also show two purchases at Pacifier, a top-notch baby store, suggesting $196 was spent to accommodate the littlest Palin to join the campaign trail.
An additional $4,902.45 was spent in early September at Atelier, a high-class shopping destination for men.
The cash expenditures immediately raised questions among campaign finance experts about their legality under the Federal Election Commission's long-standing advisory opinions on using campaign cash to purchase items for personal use.
Politico asked the McCain campaign for comment on Monday, explicitly noting the $150,000 in expenses for department store shopping and makeup consultation that were incurred immediately after Palin’s announcement. Pre-September reports do not include similar costs.
Spokeswoman Maria Comella declined to answer specific questions about the expenditures, including whether it was necessary to spend that much and whether it amounted to one early investment in Palin or if shopping for the vice presidential nominee was ongoing.
“The campaign does not comment on strategic decisions regarding how financial resources available to the campaign are spent," she said.
But hours after the story was posted on Politico's website and legal issues were raised, the campaign issued a new statement.
The business of primping and dressing on the campaign trail has become fraught with political risk in recent years as voters increasingly see an elite Washington out of touch with their values and lifestyles.
In 2000, Democrat Al Gore took heat for changing his clothing hues. And in 2006, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) was ribbed for two hair styling sessions that cost about $3,000.
Then, there was Democrat John Edwards’ $400 hair cuts in 2007 and Republican McCain’s $520 black leather Ferragamo shoes this year.
A review of similar records for the campaign of Democrat Barack Obama and the Democratic National Committee turned up no similar spending.
But all the spending by other candidates pales in comparison to the GOP outlay for the Alaska governor whose expensive, designer outfits have been the topic of fashion pages and magazines.
The records also document a couple of big-time shopping trips to Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis, including one $75,062.63 spree in early September.
The RNC also spent $4,716.49 on hair and makeup through September after reporting no such costs in August.
September payments were also made to Barney’s New York ($789.72) and Bloomingdale’s New York ($5,102.71).
Macy’s in Minneapolis, another store fortunate enough to be situated in the Twin Cities that hosted last summer’s Republican National Convention, received three separate payments totaling $9,447.71.
The entries also show two purchases at Pacifier, a top-notch baby store, suggesting $196 was spent to accommodate the littlest Palin to join the campaign trail.
An additional $4,902.45 was spent in early September at Atelier, a high-class shopping destination for men.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The cash expenditures immediately raised questions among campaign finance experts about their legality under the Federal Election Commission's long-standing advisory opinions on using campaign cash to purchase items for personal use.
Politico asked the McCain campaign for comment on Monday, explicitly noting the $150,000 in expenses for department store shopping and makeup consultation that were incurred immediately after Palin’s announcement. Pre-September reports do not include similar costs.
Spokeswoman Maria Comella declined to answer specific questions about the expenditures, including whether it was necessary to spend that much and whether it amounted to one early investment in Palin or if shopping for the vice presidential nominee was ongoing.
“The campaign does not comment on strategic decisions regarding how financial resources available to the campaign are spent," she said.
But hours after the story was posted on Politico's website and legal issues were raised, the campaign issued a new statement.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The business of primping and dressing on the campaign trail has become fraught with political risk in recent years as voters increasingly see an elite Washington out of touch with their values and lifestyles.
In 2000, Democrat Al Gore took heat for changing his clothing hues. And in 2006, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) was ribbed for two hair styling sessions that cost about $3,000.
Then, there was Democrat John Edwards’ $400 hair cuts in 2007 and Republican McCain’s $520 black leather Ferragamo shoes this year.
A review of similar records for the campaign of Democrat Barack Obama and the Democratic National Committee turned up no similar spending.
But all the spending by other candidates pales in comparison to the GOP outlay for the Alaska governor whose expensive, designer outfits have been the topic of fashion pages and magazines.
Read the entire Politico.com article about Palin's wardrobe upgrade here.
Read the New York Times article about Palin's clothes here.
Read Campbell Brown's opinion piece on CNN.com that forgives Palin's new wardrobe here.
plez sez: even plezWife - the stylista that she is - has been impressed with the outfits of the "new" sarah palin (but she's not a fan of the red leather jacket). until yesterday, i had argued that she was just a stylish woman who i didn't happen to agree with politically... my wife insisted that they had given palin the "eliza doolittle" treatment after she was picked as mccain's running mate... i guess my wife wins this argument.
the RNC did say that they would give the clothes to charity, but to my way of thinking, stuff from neiman-marcus (or "needless-markup") isn't very functional and may lead to riot conditions at the wasilla salvation army!
plezWorld thinks she should just keep the new and extravagant clothes as payment for being made an ass of as john mccain's running mate, when he knew damn well after 2 minutes of talking to the bimbo that she wasn't qualified to be his (or anyone's) vice president - right, carly fiorina?
i know that if she keeps the clothes, they'll be taxed as income. but like Beyonce', the RNC said, "Sarah baby, let me UPGRADE U!"
...and sarah palin did a marie antoinette, "let those hockey moms eat cake!"
"Upgrade U" - Beyoncé feat. Jay-Z
(C) 2007 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
(C) 2007 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
"UPGRADE U (Palin Mix)"
[Palin] let me upgrade U, flip a new page
Introduce U to some new things and
Upgrade U, I can up, can I up, let me upgrade U
[Palin] let me upgrade U
U sure to see stars, this is high level, not eye level
My bezel courtesy of Audemars
I'll Orders yours tomorrow now, look at the time I saved U
Mama let me upgrade U
Just when U think U had it all
Big ends, car notes, collectin' cars
Picture your life elevated with me
Make U my project celebrity
I'll keep your name HOT in the streets
[Palin] let me upgrade U, flip a new page
Introduce U to some new things and
Upgrade U, I can up, can I up, let me upgrade U
[Palin] let me upgrade U
One wants the best for the President or Vice -President, while I don't like P, I think her clothes are what a VP should have. Imagine meeting Royalty dressed in jeans and sweat shirt, the press would have a field day
ReplyDeleteWalMart/Hockey Mom my ass!
ReplyDeleteWHEW! Beyonce is HOT... i get worked up everytime i hear that song! and the RNC really upgraded "sarah the governor"!
ReplyDeletelostagain,
i agree - to a certain extent - that the prez and the veep (of the US) should definitely look the part. and part of me has NO PROBLEM with the RNC fixing "the bumpkin" up for her massive rallies (the ones that sen. mccain can only dream of attracting) and campaign stops! and you only feel as good as you look when facing those gotcha journalists like katie couric (cbs) and brian williams (nbc).
but the other part of me wants to wretch because of this constant bilge from McPalin about the common man (joe six-pack, joe the plumber, the hockey moms, and daveeta the retailer - who works at neiman's for far less than $75K per year). kinda hard to be spoutin' off about the economy and taxes when you've blown your contributors' hard earned money on high-end over-the-top priced clothes that could've been purchased for at more reasonable prices (ever hear of Ann Taylor?).
in the words of my friend "david the sox fan"... "Hockey Mom my ass!"
I am in total agreement witht the fact that a person in a position who are running for a high profile office office need to look and talk the part they are seeking. However if your talk is I am one of you, then your gonna talk the talk, then walk the walk. There are plenty of retailer's out in Corporate America who can provide beautiful clothing that are more upscale that Wal-Mart or Target yet Not at a Neiman Marcus or Bloomingdale price. It is seen everyday on talk shows all over this country, I think it is called a "make over?" Any trained Fashioned Consultant could probably be hired for the cost of 1 outfit to take care of the whole wardrobe. There is a double standard but with some thougt it can be stopped from becoming an issue with a little common sense. Since non is there, the story is.
ReplyDeleteI don't think the makeover is classic enough. Whatever they spent on her hair was a lost cause.
ReplyDeleteObama supporters who trashed Palin from day one are ranting about her wardrobe and other petty matters, while an anti-American Socialist / Marxist racist is about to highjack our government, with the help of voter fraud, and a corrupt biased media. You'd better wake up America ... or, this country is about to experience an ugly 4 year long nightmare under Obama/Biden !!!
ReplyDeleteknkdsoy,
ReplyDeletethe mccain campaign has mishandled and mismanaged EVERY issue they've faced (even this wardrobe fiasco). they let every little NOTHING MOMENT dominate the news cycle for a week! why didn't they just wait until after the campaign (just 5 weeks) to settle the cost of her wardrobe... this tells me that mccain continues to surround himself with people with little judgement or even common sense!
hathor,
the hair job FAILED! she should've let them cut it... it would've given her a younger, more authoritative look... she still looks like she was done up for a pageant or a prom date!
howard,
KEEP YOUR SPAM TO YOURSELF! i don't mind a dissenting view, but i'm not that crazy about right-wing propaganda being propagated in plezWorld!
i can only suppose that the anti-american socialist/marxist racist who you refer to is BARACK OBAMA... it causes me to wonder what caused you to suffer from such a delusion... and then to be FOOLISH enough to repeat it on my blog!
mccain's lack of judgement and his reliance on faulty advise would only make the US weaker on the world stage. i honestly beg to differ with your assessment of BARACK OBAMA and i happen to think that an OBAMA/BIDEN administration is just what this country needs for the next EIGHT years!!!