$150,000
Is a lot of money. Is more than the average middle class family can expect to earn in nearly three years. Is a lot of money to have campaign contributors give you for clothes, haircuts, and make-up.
The story of Governor Palin's "lifestyles of the rich and famous" make-over is so astoundingly at odds with the narrative of her authenticity, her "hockey mom" self-depiction, her "Joe sixpack" affinity that it can't fail to stun even her admirers.
I'm sure it's not comparable but for the record my haircuts cost $15.
Governor Palin doesn't pay all the taxes she ought to be paying; she has her state pay to fly one or more of her children thousands of miles to conferences (when it seems to me they ought to be in school, or at home with Dad and siblings); she won't release her health records; she doesn't ever get as far as the end of a paragraph without uttering some madcap misstatement.
But all that pales in comparison to her Marie Antoinette visit to high end stores for the highest of high end clothes, with the money shoved through still another loophole in the campaign laws Senator McCain fought so hard to pass.
For Governor Palin, this campaign apparently is American Idol with a plane and bigger crowds and somebody else's credit card. For the rest of the country, her shopping spree should be the final catalyst for a huge vote against McCain and of course the beginning of the governor's career on Fox News. She looks good in the duds, after all, whether or not she paid for them.
Bill Kristol's forehead must be black and blue from him slapping it, after he wrote this about Palin:
McCain didn't just pick a politician who could appeal to Wal-Mart moms. He picked a Wal-Mart mom....A Wasilla Wal-Mart mom a heartbeat away? I suspect most voters will say, No problem. And some — perhaps a decisive number — will say, It's about time.
Uh huh, you betcha Bill!
October 22, 2008 9:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
Here's a worthy challenge... can TalkingPointsMemo readers raise $150,000 today for Barack Obama?
His campaign is deciding tomorrow which states they will campaign in, and Barack made a video message asking for donations to expand the contest into additional states.
You can watch it at:
http://tinyurl.com/finalpush
We have the opportunity to make Obama's fifty-state strategy really mean something... but we have to fully fund it first! The polls are showing a major shift to Obama -- Reuters/CSPAN/Zogby shows him leading by 12 points, up 9 points in the last week. Obama is leading decisively amongst early voters nationwide.
We need to take advantage of this opening and reach out to independents and conservatives in states which Democrats traditionally ignore, and show them that we're going to fight for their vote, while John McCain and the Republicans will just take it for granted. We could have the chance to be the only party going live with ads in these states, while McCain is fighting desperately to hold onto states like Ohio and Indiana.
If we show the people of these states that we're serious about fighting for them, then many of their Democrats which are traditionally disheartened and unenthused will gain hope for the future of the Democratic Party, not just nationally, but in their state and local elections.
Now is the time to fight to boost the Democratic ticket everywhere. And the best way of doing that is to give Obama and the Democrats an overwhelming advantage, so they can reach out to voters and get out the vote nationwide!
Push for a big victory... donate a little something extra today!
http://tinyurl.com/finalpush
October 23, 2008 9:03 AM | Reply | Permalink
From today's SF Chronicle:
October 23, 2008 12:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks Mr. Hundt. Well said.
October 22, 2008 10:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh please. Of all the petty, stupid, ignorant, things to jump on someone about, this takes the cake. Worse, coming from the party that fields Edwards, Kerry, Pelosi, and all manner of sartorial showhorses, it's hypocrisy of the worst sort. How insecure are you people?
October 22, 2008 10:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
shooter242, Joe The Plumber and Tito the Builder and countless other Real Americans who Love Theis Country did not buy clothes for Edwards, Kerry, or Pelosi!!
They contributed to the Republican Party in order to (1) Follow up on the Surge to Victory in Iraq (2) and to keep terrorist palling, socialist baby killers out of office (3) and to put an American hero who spent five years in a POW box (where he did not have a $150,000 wardrobe!) into the White House. Get it now!
They did not contribute to the Republican Party to buy clothes for the millionaire governor of the State of Alaska!
October 22, 2008 10:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
The expenditures of Edwards, Kerry, and Pelosi on personal needs from campaign money combined don't add up to 1/10 the total Sarah has spent since August. This is a deal breaker bro....
Go get a new job.
October 22, 2008 11:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
Good luck with THAT! You think "Joe the Plumber" thinks $150k of donors' money for hair and clothing is "petty?" I bet that's not petty cash to him or millions of others.
Marie Antoinette indeed. Or maybe Sarah is closer to Lonesome Rhodes, the cynical, hick-talkin' con man of Budd Schulberg's classic A Face in the Crowd. In any case, she is a fraud, and stands reveasled as such. Couldn't happen to a nicer crook!
October 23, 2008 1:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
I agree: let them eat cake!
October 23, 2008 3:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
shooter,
the hypocrisy is from your side of the aisle when they ridiculed Edwards' haircut or the "elite" Democrats and now take offense at ridicule of that small town, real American heroine and her non-elite $150,000 wardrobe, $4,200 of it for hairdressing and make-up.
shooter, you're becoming a joke.
October 23, 2008 6:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
I wish she'd return it all and pay off our mortgage, and donate the balance to charity. Better yet, pay off the mortgage of a supporter.
October 22, 2008 10:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
I was actively supporting Edwards when the $500 haircut story broke and it bothered me. That is the problem with Democrats. We think these things are an important reflection on character.
This is not a problem for Republicans. Those of us who are apalled at Palin's $150,000 wardrobe would never vote for her in the first place. The Republicans consider it natural.
October 23, 2008 12:27 AM | Reply | Permalink
They are actually dressing and accessorizing their Caribou Barbie, to the tune of $150,000 no less! Nothing says "Hockey mom" or "Main Street" like Saks and Neiman Marcus, after all.
This story sums up their fraud of a campaign better than anything you can possibly imagine.
For perspective, take a look at our Mr. Celebrity,
http://bagnewsnotes.typepad.com/bagnews/obama-shoes-400.jpg
October 23, 2008 12:50 AM | Reply | Permalink
It's not the clothes. It's the hypocrisy. Does $13,000 in make-up make it easier to talk out of both sides of your mouth?
It's not just the hypocrisy, it's the stupidity of the missed opportunity. Palin could have lured more women to her side by saying "The image makers wanted to dress me up but I said no. Off-the-rack clothes are good enough for all of you, and they've always been good enough for me. Call me a maverick!" The applause would have never stopped.
The reason this is such a fun story is the irony of McCain's hiring the sleazy mastermind of robocalls and taking such horrible advice on message from him, and the same guy gave such horrible advice to Palin on how to present herself to potential voters.
Karma usually doesn't work that fast. It's kind of encouraging.
October 23, 2008 2:03 AM | Reply | Permalink
"Karma doesn't usually work that fast."
I love it! May I use that line?
October 23, 2008 8:57 AM | Reply | Permalink
Sure! My brain occasionally works.
October 23, 2008 12:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Part of why the karmic boomerang aspect of this story is so gratifying and hilarious is that the story itself is so trivial, in the big picture. I love the fact that these idiots tripped up on something that the media would be apt to sharkfeed on, its irrelevance notwithstanding. The republicans have repeatedly made obsessive use of non-stories - with sometimes destructive effect, when they were in their prime. Now we have this self-inflicted stupidity sucking up news cycle time, and functioning effectively as a means of displaying the hypocrisy and ludicrousness of the very idea of the Palin candidacy. Its triviality is a large part of the fun, considering how destructive it is.
The Empress's New Clothes indeed!
October 23, 2008 4:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
The candidate is like an actress in a film, she wears a costume. The producers pay for the props and the costumes. After shooting the makeup is washed off and the clothes are hung up and the wardrobe lady takes them to the cleaners.
The real ethics question is whether she gets to keep the clothes after the election.
October 23, 2008 2:08 AM | Reply | Permalink
My guess is not now that it is public knowledge of the price tag. Besides, since when does Neiman Marcus or SAKS make costumes for hockey moms and joe six pack? Their set manager chose the wrong film. McCain and Palin aren't starring in "Breakfast at Tiffany's"
October 23, 2008 3:01 AM | Reply | Permalink
Exactly -- they chose the wrong movie. I think if the total expense had been $30,000 this story would have gone away. We expect a campaign to indeed put a costume on their candidate, within reason. But for a hockey mom joe six pack to dress up like Audrey Hepburn is hubris, and just underscores her intial act of hubris of believing she was qualified to have a job she didn't even understand.
If they'd stuck a little bit closer to Norma Rae they'd have been on to something that resonated.
It's the excessiveness of the dollar amount -- and maybe I'm not observing it quite right, but there seems to be a gender split in the response. Her defenders seem to be mostly men who say "she's gotta have appropriate clothes." Whereas a woman like me says "Yeah, but they don't have to be gold-plated."
I'm willing to be wrong here, but has the MSM trotted out any defender of this excess that's female? Anyone defending her who's female and isn't in a $250K+ a year bracket?
October 23, 2008 12:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
In today's WaPo Ruth Marcus tried to figure out the dollars. She decided that one outfit per dau would yield 35. !50,000 divided by that yields roughly $4,300 per outfit. Not easy to achieve.
October 23, 2008 12:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is bullshit. Clothing is NOT a campaign expense. Dry cleaning maybe. Travel and meals, definitely. I travel for my work and often have to suit up. My company hasn't given me a clothing allowance yet, and they sure wouldn't charge the clients for my clothes if they did.
Sorry. None of this passes the smell test.
October 23, 2008 1:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
no. it really isn't.
mccain-palin and the rnc would like everyone to think so. but you really have to be will in the tank to buy that argument.
October 23, 2008 12:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Who is going to go up to the barracuda and her husband and ask for the clothes back? Did anyone see the picture of little Pipecleaner with a Louis Vitton bag? Ridiculous!
After the election the clothes issue will die, of course, although the only reason that we don't hear about Edwards' haircut is because he is toast.
October 23, 2008 12:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
There is also an LEGAL question: whether taxes must be paid on what might be viewed in law as "unearned income". Or, as she's a governor, a "gift" which requires some sort of declaration.
You have a really nasty -- and off-base attitude toward Democrats -- to the degree you in essentially pompous fashion dismiss serious issues for the frivolous and specious.
October 23, 2008 3:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
Agreed: it's not the clothes, it's the hypocrisy. With her high unfavorability ratings, Sarah Palin gives new meaning to the term "drag queen."
October 23, 2008 5:20 AM | Reply | Permalink
She is a drag. But she strikes me as being the quintessential Welfare Queen.
October 23, 2008 3:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Obama’s nomination has made our country a complete mess and an embarrassment for the world to view.
Obama and his team of supporters have reared the ugly head of sexism and racism, criticized our country to the world and have been a complete embarrassed with voter fraud and the entire voting process.
Many in my community have never seen such bias in reporting, if you want to call it that. It is an embarrassing time to be an American.
The media should be emphasizing the importance of a man with good character, not defend a man that has associations with far left, anti American radical leaders and the like.
Shame on the media, shame on the Democrats and all Americans that support Obama’s unfair tactics and inexperience.
October 23, 2008 6:58 AM | Reply | Permalink
That is funny! You should label it as snark, though; someone might think you mean it! Hahahahaha!
October 23, 2008 12:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Alecki: Go f*ck yourself.
October 23, 2008 3:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
LOL. There is absolutely nothing Palin could do that would garner approval from the left. If the clothes are too expensive, she's detached from her roots. If she looked shabby like Hillary, she'd be too much of a hick to run the country. Because the prejudice against her is so profound, this will only serve to demonstrate how unhinged her critics are. That would be you folks.
Meanwhile, she sails on through bluff and bluster, being tempered like fine steel, preparing for the next race. I'm still voting for Obama, but if Palin runs for national office again, all bets are off. Meanwhile, keep up the good work. Heh.
October 23, 2008 7:17 AM | Reply | Permalink
"She sails on through on bluff and bluster"? You mean she attempts to do so, but is so transparent she fools only retards, suckers, and assholes.
Meanwhile, back at relevant reality: among those critical are the PISSED who are REPUBLICANS who are DEMANDING their campaign contributions be REFUNDED.
October 23, 2008 3:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
C'mon - both Michelle O and Cindy M both also have very valuable wardrobes (I'm sure in excess of $150k). But since they're both multi-millionaires, it's OK for them to flaunt nice clothes??
Reed - can we go back to talking about taxes and healthcare, please?
October 23, 2008 7:17 AM | Reply | Permalink
contrary to what you might imagine, while they probably are not multi-millionaires, todd and sarah palin are actually millionaires.
October 23, 2008 12:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
Michelle Obama's favorite clothing store is the Gap.
And going around is a photo of the soles of Obamas shoes, with holes in their soles.
You really should stop the lying about who you are and in defense of everyone bonehead move by REpublicans.