I sent in a little money -- looks to me like it was well spent.
By the way.
How much do Greek columns cost?
Because we know Obama buys his suits from Sears [eye roll]
but if you win it will be Joe the plumber who did it
You'd think Palin would have the money to dress herself considering all the money she saved by bilking Alaska for her kids travel.
You are so right!
It's not the money spent on clothes. After all the Republican party is rich and can spend on anything it wants. This is perfectly legal, and Obama does it too.
However, though the amounts are much less, there are questions about how Sara Palin spend some of the State of Alaska's money, which of course is public money.
One article on the subject:
Questions raised over Sarah Palin's expenses
An investigation into Sarah Palin's expenses as governor of Alaska has raised new questions over her conduct in the post.
The Telegraph (a conservative newspaper in London)
By Tom Leonard in New York
Last Updated: 6:08PM BST 22 Oct 2008
Mrs Palin charged the state for her children to travel with her, including to events where they were not invited, and later amended her expense reports to specify that they were on official business.
The charges included costs for hotel and commercial flights for three daughters to join Mrs Palin to watch their father in a snowmobile race.
There was also a trip to New York for a five-hour conference which entailed the governor and her 17-year-old daughter staying for five days and four nights in a luxury hotel overlooking Central Park.
In total, the Republican vice-presidential candidate has charged the state $21,012 (
£13,000) for her three daughters' 64 one-way and 12 round trip airline flights since she took office in December 2006.
In some cases, she charged Alaska for hotel rooms for the girls, according to an investigation by Associated Press.
Alaska law allows expenses to be claimed by anyone conducting official state business but it does not specifically address expenses for a governor's children.
It is not the first time that Mrs Palin has been accused of unethical behaviour as governor. The Alaska state legislature recently found that she abused her power in her efforts to get her former brother-in-law, a state trooper, fired.
As governor, Mrs Palin justified having the state pay for the travel of her daughters - Bristol, 17, Willow, 14, and Piper, seven - by noting on travel forms that the girls had been invited to attend or participate in events on the governor's schedule.
However, organisers of some the events said they were surprised when the children turned up. Others said they agreed to a request by the governor to allow the children to attend.
end quote
No dave bones, Joe is already fading from the spotlight, though McCain is still trying to use him for ads and such. I don't think the RNC paying 150K for Palin's makeover is a big deal, but it is humorous since they are some of the same people that made fun of Edwards' $400 haircut four years ago. 13 days left. Clock's ticking.
Sarah looks sharp. Money well spent. What does she need, three, four wardrobe changes a day ... If she wore the same two dresses, then the drive by media would say how shaby she dressed.
The money spent is on the FEC forms, so you should be able to figure out what Hillary spent.
aww lookie the drive by cutandpaster
Hey, what I want to know is the photographer and his/her appearant shoe/foot fetish! I swear there were not only more photos of shoes, but of her BUYING shoes! And, let me point out this. Does anyone want the next vice-president looking like a shlump?! Of course not! I do not have a problem with the RNC spending money on Gov. Palin's wardrobe. Now, will our friends in the DDBMSOWM take a little time to maybe find out where some of the $150,000,000 that The One raised last month came from? Z Z Z Z Z ! ! ! ! ! I do not think they can be bothered with such details!
Hey, liberals that come here, when you talk about investigating a candidate you sound like morons. Didn't RWS just get done questioning the MSM's lack of curiosity when it comes to anything Democratic?
Come on, why worry about investigating Palin about anything when you've got Rezco, Ayers, Wright, his college writing,.......
Who knows? Was it reported in the MSM? Then it's probably not true. Just like the phony, fictional, made-up wide-spread story about Cindy McCain's convention outfit costng $300,000. Hey lefties, feel fooled? You should. But you don't care like you should. You just want to take it from the press. You need to be lied to, don't you.
And we know where McCain's money comes from. He's transparent, unlike Barack Mystery-Funds Obama. Why won't he release the information like John McCain does? Especially after his foreign donor and money stuffing scandals! Obama is the least open, least transparent Presidential candidate in modern times.
Those boots are fantastic!
And I would say that Obama doesn't have any clothes on, but I don't want every newspaper and newscast in the country trying to smear me and destroy my life.
Come on, why worry about investigating Palin about anything when you've got Rezco, Ayers, Wright, his college writing,.......
mare | 10.22.08 - 10:26 pm | #
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Because they aren't running for Vice-President.
Wow . . . $150,000 in clothes they're giving to charity after loaning them to Palin to sharpen up her image a little. Apart from the estimated $10,000,000,000 Obama's already gotten in free image-sharpening from the in-the-tank MSM, how many seconds do you think it takes him to spend $150,000 on one of his image-building TV spots? And how much did those Greek columns cost?
You'd think Palin would have the money to dress herself considering all the money she saved by bilking Alaska for her kids travel.
Let's see, Drew . . . $21,000 for 78 flights, about $89 per. And cheaper than paying for a babysitter while off on an official trip, no (and less tham tax law writer Charlie Rangel cheated on his taxes?) And remember, she sold the $2.1 million jet -- so not only did the state get that money, it was saved from paying for all that fuel for a near-empty private plane.
Betcha the Obama campaign's paying for his upcoming charter flight to Hawaii to visit his grandmother -- how much will that cost? Big waste, from what I can see, because for some strange reason -- some very, very strange reason -- he's traveling solo on that big ol' plane. Makes you wonder why his wife and the great-grandkids aren't going along to see her, even though she's allegedly on her deathbed (as Joe Biden so gallantly announced on TV -- wonder if she watched it?)
William describe any of Obama's college papers.
Describe any of hid legal papers while pres of the Harvard Law review.
Yeah, I didn't think so.
Amateur.
Why don't you describe them for us? Considering that there were multiple members of the Federalist Society (and future members of the Bush administration) on the Harvard Law review with Obama, I'm willing to bet there isn't a story there so please enlighten us.
Considering that there were multiple members of the Federalist Society (and future members of the Bush administration) on the Harvard Law review with Obama, I'm willing to bet there isn't a story there so please enlighten us.
Bad bet. His total literary output before his two books were (1) a poem and (2) an unsigned Harvard Law note. So there is a story there, Drew -- Bill Ayers wrote his first book. Random House dumped Obama because he never turned in a manuscript, and the he magically whipped one up for a small publisher while "living in the neighbor" with the professor.
Drew my whole point is that there aren't any.
None.
I think the real story with Palin's wardrobe expenses isn't that the press doesn't investigate Hillary's own clothing tab, or that they are not investigating more serious issues more deeply... the real story is about hypocrisy. The amount the GOP spent on Palin's closet - US $150,000 for September - seems hypocritical as a budget for someone who sold the Governor's private jet and has made earmark reform and rallying against government waste a standard part of her speeches and public persona.
According to census.gov, the median US income is around 40k for males. There's our real Joe Sixpack. Palin presents herself as Everyman and Everywoman, a Washington outsider who doesn't play the way career politicians do, who says she is here to reform this kind of unrestrained spending.
Think about the disconnect in the Republican message here to Joe Sixpack: we spent almost four times your annual earnings on Palin's wardrobe in September, at high end clothiers. Shouldn't she be shopping at Sears or JCPenney? That's where Joe Sixpack shops.
Well, that's the kind of place she used to shop before she became the VP candidate.
The McCain campaign is giving her more and more freedom--she is no longer suffocated by "handlers."
But, yeah: they bought her some clothes, and they changed her hair just a teensy bit.
The post she is running for is the American equivalent of royalty, and I don't mind if some of it was nice stuff that I could never afford.
She still spent a lot less than her predecessor as Alaska's governor, and John McCain's campaign is spending about a fifth of what Obana's spending, because McCain kept his promise to accept public financing--whereas Obama broke his.
So Obama's war chest, due to that broken promise, is something like fivefold of McCain's.
If the McCain people feel that Palin needs a few nice jackets, I'm okay with that: they've got very little money, and they've got better focus groups to make decisions like that.
We can't very well accuse them of throwing money around: they haven't GOT it, compared to the competition.
Can you say POST-PARTUM? Maybe Sarah Palin also needed new clothes because she had just had a baby, and the clothes she had didn't fit anymore. As any woman who has just given birth can tell you, your old clothes rarely fit like they did, so soon after giving birth.
So maybe it wasn't just they wanted to "blow" money on clothes, but she really needed them, and they decided to get her high quality clothes for the RNC, campaign trail, etc., and then they would donate them.
Don't tell me if the Palin was a Democrat, the Dems wouldn't have done the same thing either.
This is SO sexist. No one is "investigating" how much Obama or Biden spend on their clothes, and they obviously haven't just had babies either.
>The post she is running for is the American
>equivalent of royalty, and I don't mind if some
>of it was nice stuff that I could never afford.
That's part of the message disconnect I'm talking about, though. According to Palin, she's not royalty, and wants voters to know that so they will vote for her and McCain. She says she's mom and pop, apple pie, working parent in a mini-van.
The GOP has made a killing the last 8 years on defining Democrats as the "liberal elite" along with their Hollywood donors. Then they dress their VP pick in clothes only the liberal elite and their Hollywood donors can afford so she can look good for the average American crowds she claims to be one with. They've just tied her directly to the group they have so successfully demonized for 8 years running. At best, it's cynical to play the crowds that way... at worst, it's a serious miscalculation.
The press grabs it and runs with it because it's a base issue a majority of readers with ~40k annual incomes will get worked up over. I don't believe the press are biased against Palin or the Right... they just tend to simple stories to keep their readership upset enough to keep looking, which drives ad revenues. It's a business like any other.
It's a business that is losing viewers and readers at quite a clip.
There are always these types of contradictions with any politician who has the slightest bit of populist appeal--remember the huge row when the Clintons decided to send their daughter to a private school?
And First Families get slammed in the other direction, too: Rosalyn Carter was criticized for taking her sewing machine to the White House, and continuing to do a bit of her own sewing.
Heaven forfend that we should focus on issues that actually, you know--matter.
Does all this mean you're going to overhaul you're wardrobe Sparkle?
I wish someone would point out how much Hillary spent. I'm guessing it was more.
Wouldn't that seem like a natural followup? Although no one really cares though.
Because they aren't running for Vice-President.
william | 10.22.08 - 10:55 pm | #
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Neither is Joe the Plumber dear.
NickS:
Clothes = Image
TV Ads = Image
So, clothes and TV ads are really the same thing.
No, Joe SixPack doesn't wear expensive clothes, but he doesn't go on TV before an audience of hundreds of millions, either. So why don't you also claim that it's hypocritical for the Republicans to do any TV advertising, and then extend that same criticism to the Democrats?
Answer: Because you're the hypocrite. Because what you really want is for the Republicans to unilaterally disarm, to spend nothing on image while the Democrats (who are responsible for the Fannie Mae debacle that's impoverishing Joe SixPack) spend everything. Presumably you also want the Republicans to stop flying all around the country in planes, because, well, Joe SixPack doesn't do that either. And they shouldn't use microphones at rallies, because Joe SixPack just uses his regular mouth.
Raving: If it works, use it! That kind of arguement is frequently used by democrats on republicans. Sometimes it works. IMO, the biggest problem in politics is that Republicans are often too polite, too willing to 'turn teh otehr cheek', and oten act like Schoos.
Neither is joe the plumber dear
Ka Ching!
William crashes and burns....again.
Nick, Obama spent 130,000 on those stupid Greek columns. (He used one day) Yeah, he's speaking to the common man.
You guys are hilarious with your hypocrisy.
HAahahahaaaaaaaaaa!
Raving and BigDog:
"If it works, use it!" is the same thing as saying it's ok to do wrong so long as it's in service to a higher good. It's not a moral position, and is also at odds with the greater Republican message this cycle. It's hard to brand the Democrats as two-faced and employ the same type of methodology.
To extrapolate my argument about Palin's wardrobe being off message all the way out to the point of absurdity that candidates should stop flying planes or using microphones sounds good in a brawl, but it's ridiculous unless the GOP's message is one of complete austerity, which it isn't. I'm simply saying their image for Palin should support their message.
TV ads and clothing are not both image. Clothing is image, and if the GOP was on message, that image would fit their storyline for Palin. TV ads, and any other form of media, are tools to spread the message. The GOP missed a gigantic opportunity to resonate and reinforce their message with Joe Sixpack. Imagine if they had set up after hours shopping trips to clothing stores used by regular Americans. Then they could have made the argument they walk the walk, and turned Hillary and Obama's high-cost wardrobes into a liability. "Versace-wearing" could have been added right next to "latte-sipping."
And BigDog, I'm not a hypocrite. A hypocrite says one thing and does another - "If it works, use it" even if it conflicts with position. I haven't extended my criticism of Palin's wardrobe break with message to the Democrats because neither Hillary or Obama made folksy Americana a centerpiece of their image and message. You assume that anyone who criticizes the Republicans must be all for the Democrats. I believe all politicians should be judged on whether they walk the walk. That includes not just Palin and her off message clothing, but Obama's broken campaign promise to accept public financing, or whether Biden hangs out at Home Depot.
Wasn't there a "Day By Day" strip with the characters talking about how they could see Palin really shopping at Home Depot, but not Biden? Now that the GOP blew her Joe Sixpack image, that looks pretty naive.
Very good point about Day by Day Nick. I remember that now! Maybe Home Depot should sell clothes too.
There's no point in hitting the point too hard, when she's standing next to Cindy McCain--even more of a clotheshorse than Condi Rice (well . . . maybe; that one might be close).
She needs to look more down-to-earth than Cindy, but the clothing must still connote quality.
I truly haven't seen Palin in anything I wouldn't be able to find a good knockoff of, if I had the time to look for it. The lines are simple and classic: it's stuff I could find for a decent price if I spent a little time.
But time was the thing they didn't have. They got the stuff at the places Cindy shops because it was the fastest way to get the job done.
By the way--where does Obama's lobster, caviar and champagne from room service fit in with his message?
I wonder how much Joe "I'd be honored to run with John McCain" Biden has spent on Botox and rugs.
>I thought, "Can you believe this? We have a women running for Vice President who is carrying around a diaper bag."
The kid is maybe 6 months old and already getting frequent flyer miles!
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