Sarah Palin: Hockey Mom with $150,000 Wardrobe

The latest breaking news, down the stretch in the campaign for leadership of the Free World, is that the Republican National Committee has spent $150,000 since Labor Day to keep Sarah Palin and her family looking sharp.

This an odd revelation. Palin primped herself up well enough to win the Alaska governor's election, obtaining her wardrobe from her own family budget. But the story must be true. This vital news first was reported by Politico.com, which is among the minority of political websites because it actually is accurate and balanced.

Palin's people issued no denials in response to the Politico.com account, no further decrying of the liberal media. It would be difficult, after all, to describe the media as "elite" after spending $150,000 on clothing and accessories and hair.

Palin spokeswoman Maria Comella absorbed the first battering from the media after Politico.com released its report. She gravely told the assembled reporters, "The campaign does not comment on strategic decisions regarding how financial resources available to the campaign are spent," said Comella, not exactly forthcoming.

A more senior Palin spokeswoman, Tracey Schmidt, decided to bring the wardrobe issue out of the closet.

"With all the important issues facing the country right now, it's remarkable that we're spending time talking about pantsuits and blouses," Schmitt said. This answer is oblivious to the fact that (a) such expenses would violate campaign finance law, and that (b) people who portray Palin as a down-to-earth breath of fresh air may question spending three times as much as an average family's total annual income.

"It was always the intent that the clothing go to a charitable purpose after the campaign," Schmitt added. Now she's talking. Palin's loyalists are very, very loyal, and an auction might raise $15 million, much less $150,000.

Spending is documented on the Republican National Committee's own campaign finance reports, and so the liberal media did not make this up. The top line item is $75,062 at Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis, which was the site of the GOP National Convention during the first week of September. Next comes $49,425 from Saks Fifth Avenue stores in New York City and St. Louis.

When people spend this much on clothes, don't they usually try them on themselves? However, such a shopping trip by Palin would have attracted media hordes, so somebody in the campaign must have taken her measurements and gone from there. Either that, or Tina Fey tried on the clothes.

Another $4,716 went for Palin's hair and makeup. Even the baby in the family was included, with a combined $250 spent at Pacifier and at Steiniauf & Stroller.

Give Politico.com credit for political balance. Palin was not singled out. Obama wears $4,000 suits and $300 ties, although there is no evidence that the Democratic National Committee foots the bill. Hillary Clinton was mocked for $1,500 hair-doos, and John Edwards for $400 haircuts. Even McCain himself has been striding in $520 Ferragamo leather shoes. And we may recall the 2000 campaign, when Al Gore abruptly and all too obviously began wearing earth tones in a quest to revamp his snobby image.

Amid all of this, the McCain campaign complains that it lacks competitive funds to keep up with Barack Obama's flood of television advertising. How many ads could $150,000 have purchased?

SOURCES

politico.com/news/stories/1008/14805.html

nypost.com/seven/10222008/news/politics/shop_spree_sarahs_150g_party_clothes_134694.htm