RNC shells out $150K for Palin fashion

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To be fair, according to the NYTimes, Palin is repeatedly wearing the same things, her outfit for the debate cost under $200, and much of Michelle Obama's wardrobe is designer too. Still, stupid of the McCain campaign though.

I understand all the candidates, and especially the females (sexist as it is) need to look their best. I understand their clothing expenditures are going to be much higher than the average Joe or Jane's. But 150 GRAND???? In the midst of an enormous national and world wide financial disaster? When the candidates are at least TRYING to appear like they care about the rest of us and our money problems?

I don't think that any amount of fairness is going to change the way this looks. Because it looks like exactly what it is. Irresponsible, selfish, out-of-touch, conservative, rich people who moan the blues about having to pay unfair income taxes and then spend shamelessly on expensive products they don't need.

Anybody ever hear of Dress Barn for goodness sakes??? It's down the street from me and they sell very nice, respectable, attractive and even a little bit sexy women's suits for about $200 each.

There can be NO rationale for these expenditures.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:22:37, the clothes are for all seven of the Palins (or perhaps six, since Trig probably didn't need any designer duds). Divide the $2,200 a day by 6. Campaign finance experts agree that the law requires the Palins to return all the clothes at the end of the campaign. They are not permanently upgrading their wardrobes with RNC money. (Though as I've said before, I'm happy for RNC to spend its money this way.) As for the hypocrisy charge, it's certainly true. I'm of the belief, though, that while some Americans might want "someone like them" as VP, they also want to see a certain amount of style and glamour in first ladies and even in female candidates. In other words, they want Josephine Six Pack to have the style of Jackie Kennedy, not of the hockey mom next door. Even you must agree that navigating the national political stage at this level is much, much harder for women.

I was never going to vote for Palin anyway. But her family's clothes, purchased with money I didn't donate to the RNC, and going back to the RNC at the end of the campaign, are a non-issue for me.

Your math is inaccurate; the kids are not out on the trail daily, and there doesn't appear to be much clothing for them. The report is that Todd's clothes cost $4900. And to top it off, there's a photo out of Piper carrying a $1,000 Louis Vuitton bag. THat's more than the weekly salary of the average plumber.

Piper's bag is a fake.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This may indeed be the nail in the McCain Palin coffin.

Oh I sure hope so...it's getting tighter and tighter. McCain's ratings are slightly up today despite the designer clothes issue.

[Anonymous]

I in no way support the crazy cost of her wardrobe, but I can see how shopping at those 2 stores is pretty easy. Just from spending time looking for a fancy dress for hours up at Mazza Gallerie, once I walked into NM or Saks I had to try 3 on and found one I loved in 20 minutes. It fit perfectly, its timeless, and well made. I will cherish my $400 dress for the next 10 years. I will now always go back to those type of stores to find the 'one' in 20 minutes.

That being said, I can see how easy it is for her to have someone shop for her at those stores and ring up a boatload of outfits (probably 2 a day) for the rest of the campaign. Probably shoes, accessories, etc. I can also see that if they win the election (I really hope not) she'll use those clothes in office.

I can't imagine spending $150k, but I can see anyone approaching $30,000 if they purchased 30 outfits with accessories.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I in no way support the crazy cost of her wardrobe, but I can see how shopping at those 2 stores is pretty easy. Just from spending time looking for a fancy dress for hours up at Mazza Gallerie, once I walked into NM or Saks I had to try 3 on and found one I loved in 20 minutes. It fit perfectly, its timeless, and well made. I will cherish my $400 dress for the next 10 years. I will now always go back to those type of stores to find the 'one' in 20 minutes.

That being said, I can see how easy it is for her to have someone shop for her at those stores and ring up a boatload of outfits (probably 2 a day) for the rest of the campaign. Probably shoes, accessories, etc. I can also see that if they win the election (I really hope not) she'll use those clothes in office.

I can't imagine spending $150k, but I can see anyone approaching $30,000 if they purchased 30 outfits with accessories.

$400 sounds really "cheap" for something at NM or Saks. I saw a small decorative pillow for $300 at Saks.

If Palin gets to be VP, she'll get another wardrobe allowance for her designer threads thanks to our tax dollars. *Sigh* If i could have such an allowance for designer duds.

[Anonymous]

Another thing to consider: with her income, which is ample, she can afford to buy her own clothes. She could probably have afforded to live at home without a per diem and pay for her kids' travel expenses (or left them at home for some business trips, as those of us who are accountable to our bosses and clients for expenses must do). Michelle and Barack Obama buy their clothes out of their own money. They make more than Palin, but Palin's tax returns indicate that she can afford to buy perfectly nice clothes.

In both instances where other people's money was available to pay for Sarah Palin's personal expenses, she's done it. She did have a personal shopper, but she signed off on the decision to get these clothes with committee money. She could just as easily have scoured her finances and come up with a $3000 budget for campaign clothes, and looked like the kind of people she claimed to be proud of. The reality is that she's okay with redistributing wealth when she can get away with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This really is not a huge issue. She is a woman, they want her to look nice. If it were Hillary or a democrat I would want them to look nice too. Not "nice" but well dressed I guess. It is much more expensive to dress a woman than a man who may have custom made suits but can re-wear them more readily than a woman.

The issue is that the McPalin campaign are continuing to reach out to the Joe Sixpacks on Main Street. LOL. Joe Sixpacks wouldn't be caught dead in designer threads. Now that they are struggling with unemployment, this lavish spending further highlights the Republicans' altitude separation from the workers on the ground scrounging for jobs to keep a roof over their heads.

But the problem is that people like Joe the Plumber hold out this vague hope that they could be like McCain and Palin (witness Joe's worry about being taxed for a business that he doesn't even own and probably has no hope of buying) -- so go ahead, have umpteen houses and spend 150 grand at Saks and N-M, because maybe I could be that person one day in this great country of ours.

[Anonymous]

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postpartisan/2008/10/_i_didnt_want_to.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

[Anonymous]

You don't get a clothing allowance as VP or as President. You have to buy your own. And although it may have been legal for the RNC to spend the money to outfit Palin and her family (what, her husband needs 5K on clothes too?), the RNC is now announcing that they will donate the clothes to charity at the end of the campaign. This ridiculous assertion is because if the Palins keep the clothes, they'll be viewed as income and will be taxed on it. Charity? Please. I've tried to donate clothes to charities helping women going back into the workforce and they can't use anything below a size 10.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You don't get a clothing allowance as VP or as President. You have to buy your own. And although it may have been legal for the RNC to spend the money to outfit Palin and her family (what, her husband needs 5K on clothes too?), the RNC is now announcing that they will donate the clothes to charity at the end of the campaign. This ridiculous assertion is because if the Palins keep the clothes, they'll be viewed as income and will be taxed on it. Charity? Please. I've tried to donate clothes to charities helping women going back into the workforce and they can't use anything below a size 10.

I thought even the Secretary of State (Rice) got a clothing allowance. So do the Secret Service agents.

[Anonymous]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20081023/pl_politico/14844

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:22:37, the clothes are for all seven of the Palins (or perhaps six, since Trig probably didn't need any designer duds). Divide the $2,200 a day by 6. Campaign finance experts agree that the law requires the Palins to return all the clothes at the end of the campaign. They are not permanently upgrading their wardrobes with RNC money. (Though as I've said before, I'm happy for RNC to spend its money this way.) As for the hypocrisy charge, it's certainly true. I'm of the belief, though, that while some Americans might want "someone like them" as VP, they also want to see a certain amount of style and glamour in first ladies and even in female candidates. In other words, they want Josephine Six Pack to have the style of Jackie Kennedy, not of the hockey mom next door. Even you must agree that navigating the national political stage at this level is much, much harder for women.

I was never going to vote for Palin anyway. But her family's clothes, purchased with money I didn't donate to the RNC, and going back to the RNC at the end of the campaign, are a non-issue for me.

Your math is inaccurate; the kids are not out on the trail daily, and there doesn't appear to be much clothing for them. The report is that Todd's clothes cost $4900. And to top it off, there's a photo out of Piper carrying a $1,000 Louis Vuitton bag. THat's more than the weekly salary of the average plumber.

Not my math, baby. It's the math of a PP. I just pointed out that all the money hasn't been spent on Palin. And I just don't understand why anyone who didn't donate to the RNC cares.

[Anonymous]

This is just so hilarious to me. Did a single poster on this thread donate money to the RNC? No? Then why do you care? To sum it up:

It's not your money.
It's not taxpayer money.
It's money people donated to the Republican National Committee.

The amount of emotional energy some posters are dedicating to this is amazing. I hope all the people who are so very offended by these evil expenditures are actually doing something for the Obama campaign rather than just posting about it on a message board. Spread the word to ALL your Republican friends, of whom I'm sure you have many. McCain-Palin is no longer a good choice because the RNC bought clothes for the Palin family! This is surely the scandal of the decade!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is just so hilarious to me. Did a single poster on this thread donate money to the RNC? No? Then why do you care? To sum it up:

It's not your money.
It's not taxpayer money.
It's money people donated to the Republican National Committee.

The amount of emotional energy some posters are dedicating to this is amazing. I hope all the people who are so very offended by these evil expenditures are actually doing something for the Obama campaign rather than just posting about it on a message board. Spread the word to ALL your Republican friends, of whom I'm sure you have many. McCain-Palin is no longer a good choice because the RNC bought clothes for the Palin family! This is surely the scandal of the decade!

apparently you are missing the whole point. It doesn't matter where the $ came from, if she is trying to say she IS the average American, this whole shopping spree totally makes her look way above the average American and that she doesn't really understand who the average American is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is just so hilarious to me. Did a single poster on this thread donate money to the RNC? No? Then why do you care? To sum it up:

It's not your money.
It's not taxpayer money.
It's money people donated to the Republican National Committee.

The amount of emotional energy some posters are dedicating to this is amazing. I hope all the people who are so very offended by these evil expenditures are actually doing something for the Obama campaign rather than just posting about it on a message board. Spread the word to ALL your Republican friends, of whom I'm sure you have many. McCain-Palin is no longer a good choice because the RNC bought clothes for the Palin family! This is surely the scandal of the decade!

apparently you are missing the whole point. It doesn't matter where the $ came from, if she is trying to say she IS the average American, this whole shopping spree totally makes her look way above the average American and that she doesn't really understand who the average American is.

I'm just not offended by it. Who the f*%k cares? And you are apparently missing the whole point, since you don't see that the average American doesn't want candidates who look like. . . the average American. If they did, Joe Biden wouldn't invest his Senate salary in hair plugs and Ultra Brite.