Apparently it costs a lot to look this stupid: RNC spends $150K to clothe Sarah Palin

[Penny Lane]

The Republican National Committee appears to have spent more than $150,000 to clothe and accessorize vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and her family since her surprise pick by John McCain in late August.

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.
Politico asked the McCain campaign for comment, 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.
Slideshow

Palin Fashion


“The campaign does not comment on strategic decisions regarding how financial resources available to the campaign are spent," she said.

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.

What hasn’t been apparent is where the clothes came from – her closet back in Wasilla or from the campaign coffers in Washington.

The answer can be found inside the RNC’s September monthly financial disclosure report under “itemized coordinated expenditures.”

It’s a report that typically records expenses for direct mail, telephone calls and advertising. Those expenses do show up, but the report also has a new category of spending: “campaign accessories.”

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 a few purchases at Pacifier, a top notch baby store, and Steiniauf & Stroller Inc., suggesting $295 was spent to accommodate the littlest Palin to join the campaign trail.

An additional $4,902.45 was spent at Atelier, a high-class shopping destination for men.


RNC appears to shell out $150K for Palin fashion - Jeanne Cummings - Politico.com


Didn't see this posted.

[Brookie]

An additional $4,902.45 was spent at Atelier, a high-class shopping destination for men.

For WHAT? A new snowmobile suit for The First Dude?

Didn't these people save enough by having their kids' travel paid for?

[Shinola]

Yup, she's really one of the regular folks.

[MontanaMama]

Color me shocked and surprised that the "maverick" takes and takes some more p how much for the kids?

[kingcap72]

The Republicans spend that kind of cash on Palin and then bitch about the amount of money Obama's raising for the campaign.

[*DIVA!]

They paid all of that for her clothing and she still looks cheap...bimbo avon lady

[buttmunch]

Since her selection as John McCain's running mate, the Republican National Committee spent more than $150,000 on clothing and make-up for Gov. Sarah Palin, her husband, and even her infant son, it was reported on Tuesday evening.

That entertaining scoop -- which came by way of Politico -- sent almost immediate reverberations through the presidential race. A statement from McCain headquarters released hours after the article bemoaned the triviality of the whole affair.

"With all of the important issues facing the country right now, it's remarkable that we're spending time talking about pantsuits and blouses," said spokesperson Tracey Schmitt. "It was always the intent that the clothing go to a charitable purpose after the campaign."

But even the most timid of Democrats are unlikely to heed this call for civility. For starters, the story has the potential to dampen enthusiasm among GOP activists and donors at a critical point in the presidential race. It also creates a huge PR headache for the McCain ticket as it seeks to make inroads among voters worried about the current economic crisis.

Mainly, however, Democrats (in this scenario) are not prone to forgiveness. After all, it was during this same campaign cycle that Republicans belittled the $400 haircut that former Sen. John Edwards had paid for with his own campaign money (the funds were later reimbursed). And yet, the comparison to that once-dominant news story is hardly close: if Edwards had gotten one of his legendary haircuts every singe week, it would still take him 7.2 years to spend what Palin has spent. Palin has received the equivalent of $2,500 in clothes per day from places such as Saks Fifth Avenue (where RNC expenditures totaled nearly $50,000) and Neiman Marcus (where the governor had a $75,000 spree).

Beyond the political tit-for-tat, however, the revelation of the clothing expenditures offers what some Democrats see as a chance not just to win several news cycles during the campaign's waning days but to severely damage Palin's image as a small-town, 'Joe Six-Pack' American.

"It shows that Palin ain't like the rest of us," Tom Matzzie, a Democratic strategist told the Huffington Post, when asked how the party would or could use the issue. "It can help deflate her cultural populism with the Republican base. The Plumber's wife doesn't go to Nieman's or Saks."

Indeed, the story could not come at a more inopportune time for the McCain campaign. During a week in which the Republican ticket is trying to highlight its connection to the working class - and, by extension, promoting its newest campaign tool, Joe the Plumber - it was revealed that Palin's fashion budget for several weeks was more than four times the median salary of an American plumber ($37,514). To put it another way: Palin received more valuable clothes in one month than the average American household spends on clothes in 80 years. A Democrat put it in even blunter terms: her clothes were the cost of health care for 15 or so people.

There are, in these cases, legal questions surrounding campaign expenditures. Though, on this front, Palin and the RNC seem to be in the clear.

"I don't think it's taxed," said David Donnelly of Campaign Money Watch. "I don't think she can keep it. It's owned by the RNC. They had to use coordinated funds to pay for the clothes."

And certainly the possibility exists that this issue can be effectively swept under the rug. Palin is not known for taking impromptu questions from the press. Moreover, the media, at this juncture, has other major story lines (see: upcoming election) to grapple with, thus denying the piece the relative vacuum that accompanied the Edwards story. Finally, there is little desire among conservative writers or pundits to litigate the matter, even if they were more than happy to jump on board when a Democrat was in the spotlight.

Several hours after Politico posted its findings, the topic remained nearly untouched by the major right-wing outlets. Though as Marc Ambinder at the Atlantic opined: "the heat for this story will come from Republicans who cannot understand how their party would do something this stupid ... particularly (and, it must be said, viewed retroactively) during the collapse of the financial system and the probable beginning of a recession."
Palin Clothes Spending Has Dems Salivating, Republicans Livid

Kind of puts things in perspective as far as her working class credentials, eh?

[BBDSP]

You know what they say--You can put Prada on a retard, but it's still a retard.

[HWBL]

And her new nickname for Obama was "wealth spender"???? Idiot rabid bitch.

[BBDSP]

I wasn't surprised to hear this. She has on a nice new outfit at every appearance. I figured someone was paying for it.

If it came from campaign funds, that sucks, though. John should have just asked Cindy for an advance on his allowance so he could buy Sarah some new clothes.

[ana-mish-ana]

Dont forget McCain spends about 8 grand a month on makeup and a makeup artist lol

But so much for acting as one of the ordinary folks and not an elitist

[cmmdee]

They paid all of that for her clothing and she still looks cheap...bimbo avon lady

Well said. I was thinking to myself, Damn. All that money and still looks boring as fuck. Has she been talking to Katie Holmes or something?

[Valley Doll]

They paid all of that for her clothing and she still looks cheap...bimbo avon lady

I was thinking Wal-Mart beauty pageant wannabe, but your analogy works, too.

But the heifer couldn't afford to buy her daughter a $10 box of condoms. That figures.

[Belinda]

Will Palin's Make-up Artist Add to Extreme Makeover Woes?

John McCain's makeup is right out of "American Idol." Running mate Sarah Palin's is so "So You Think You Can Dance" -- and so much more expensive. McCain's September payments of $8,672.55 to "American Idol" make-up artist Tifanie White, who has also worked on the reality dance show "So You Think You Can Dance," are a drop in the bucket on the campaign's beautification front compared to the GOP vice presidential nominee.

The Sleuth has learned that Palin's high-paid traveling make-up artist is Amy Strozzi, who was nominated for an Emmy Award for her work as head of makeup on "So You Think You Can Dance." Strozzi was paid $13,200 by the McCain-Palin campaign last month alone, according to the campaign's latest financial disclosure report filed this week.

That's $4,527.45 more than McCain's make-up artist made last month. And as we mentioned yesterday in our exclusive on McCain's make-up artist, the 72-year-old Arizona senator, who has prominent scars from battling cancer, requires more work than does the more naturally telegenic 44-year-old Palin.

Strozzi, whose first name is misspelled as "Ami" in the campaign's financial report, is listed as doing "communications consulting" work. But two sources close to the campaign tell the Sleuth Strozzi is Palin's make-up artist.

They also describe Strozzi, whose resume you can view here, as "Goth" and "punk." She certainly has that flare, as you can see in this Fox News video posted on YouTube of Strozzi and another colleague working backstage on the reality dance show.

Our report on Palin's make-up artist comes after the embarrassing story in Politico that the Republican Party shelled out $150,000 at luxury stores like Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue -- real regular everyday Joe Sixpack, Joe the Plumber kinda stores, huh? -- to clothe and accessorize the vice presidential nominee.

It's probably a safe bet that Palin's makeup and makeover spending sprees won't help matters in the court of public opinion.

For the first time since Palin joined the GOP ticket, more voters have a negative opinion of her than a positive one, 47 to 38 percent, according to a new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll.

The Politico report on Palin's $150,000 fashion makeover could raise more serious ethical and legal questions. The Federal Election Campaign Act prohibits the conversion of campaign funds to personal use. Specifically: "a contribution or donation shall be considered to be converted to personal use if the contribution or amount is used to fulfill any commitment, obligation, or expense of a person that would exist irrespective of the campaign's election campaign or individual's duties as a holder of Federal office, including . . . a clothing purchase."

Which may explain why campaign spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt said in her statement released last night that it "was always the intent that the clothing go to a charitable purpose after the campaign."

Will Palin's Make-up Artist Add to Extreme Makeover Woes? - The Sleuth

[WesCAdle]

And her new nickname for Obama was "wealth spender"???? Idiot rabid bitch.

HaHaHa. I think a great new theme song from the McSham-Failin ticket is Britney Spears' "Oops I Did It Again".