RNC Appears to Shell Out $150K for Palin Fashion

[Hissyspit]

Source: Politico

RNC Appears to Shell Out $150K for Palin Fashion

By JEANNE CUMMINGS | 10/21/08 7:47 PM EDT

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.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1008/14805.html

[muntrv]

1. Why does the RNC hate real Amurkins?

[progressivebydesign]

2. hey! If Walmart is good enough for REAL Americans, why is she shopping at Saks 5th Avenue?

She should be shopping where her people shop... where Joe the Plumber buys his clothes..

[speedoo]

3. K&R. Great stuff, the truth. nt

[petronius]

4. Palin probably took her whole family shopping, and charged it the RNC

I wonder if AK is finding some extra cash in the budget, now that the Palin clan is sponging off someone else?

[qanda]

5. They didn't get their money's worth

They should have gone to Target or Anne Taylor. They could have saved themselves a ton of money.

[tblue]

11. Republican donors are paying for this. You know -- 'real' Americans.

Bet they are happy as hell to be footing the bill for Sarah's designer wardrobe. I'd be pissed and demand a refund!

[JDPriestly]

6. Remember how shocked Republicans were by Edwards' haircut.

I don't hear any of them expressing shock about Palin's haircuts or clothes costs.

[cosmicone]

9. and he paid for it from his own pocket !! n/t

[Supersedeas]

31. the GOP Media Establishment has no memory

[Sydnie]

7. Oh hell, couldn't Cindy have given her a few hand me downs?

She could have auctioned them off on ebay and bought a whole new wardrobe for what Cindy spent on her convention dress alone!

We've come a long way from "Pat wears a respectable republican cloth coat" haven't we? :rofl:

[DesertFlower]

8. so when she's spending her own money

she shops in target, but when it's someone else's she goes to Saks and Neiman Marcus. i've never been inside a Neiman Marcus.

[Demeter]

52. Same stuff, Higher Prices

[onehandle]

10. That's a lot of money just to smear Preparation H underneath her eyes.

Does she still duct tape her boobs and spray hairspray on her ass to keep her swimsuit in place?

[Bozita]

12. Isn't a lot of that $$$ considered taxable income by the IRS?

[kestrel91316]

13. They bought her lots of different dangly earrings, too. To make her look

more "feminine" and sexually available, just like all the hairdos (not how she wears it DOWN all the time now, the schoolmarm thiing was a sexual turnoff for male voters). And those red patent leather stiletto heels during the debate.

[2Design]

14. wonder how the hiltons think about their money going to this

they didn't like the hilton ad - this is pretty outrageous too

[glitch]

15. And yet in her makeover they still missed the moustache.

Typical puke expenditures - pay huge amounts for the meaningless, ignore the essentials.

[sofa king]

55. You mean the Charlie Chaplin moustache?

'Cause that's what all those folks are wearing on the inside.

[glitch]

61. Ew. No not that one, the real one that the Republicans threw a big snit over because Newsweek (?)

didn't airbrush it out when they put her mug on their cover.

[John Q. Citizen]

16. This should play well in small town America...NOT!

Oh where is the Republican cloth coat of yesteryear?

[Olney Blue]

17. Neiman's has a Joe Six-pack clothing line?

[Patsy Stone]

19. Yes

Just off the runway in Milan, the Fall 2008 Joe dell'a Six Pack collection.

:hi:

[Olney Blue]

22. Oscar De La Low Rente

Hi Patsy! :hi:

[Patsy Stone]

30. LOL!

How are ya?

[Olney Blue]

54. Counting the days....

until we have our country back. :patriot:

I'm doing well, thanks!

[Patsy Stone]

18. He sooooo should have picked me.

I could have used my own upscale "What Not to Wear" episode.

[rainbow4321]

20. Yep....there was an article when their convention was going on

I had put it here on DU back then, that a local (mom and pop's) kids' clothes shop owner told a newspaper up there that they recognized one of their little outfits on Trig when they showed him on camera at the convention. The owner said that it was not Palin who had come into the shop, it appeared to be someone who was using an RNC credit card. The shopper had also asked about clothes for the other kids (not specifying who's kids but the ages/sizes were around Palin's kids' ages). Kinda gave the impression they were all being given a makeover by the RNC.


On edit:
Found it...

http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/27941064.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O%20<img%20src=

[Politicalboi]

21. I bet

Tina Fey didn't spend that much on her clothes. Can you imagine if Michelle spent that kind of money on herself and the girls.

[BrklynLiberal]

23. I would have guessed that it would have cost a lot more than $150K to make her look presentable.

[Lifelong Protester]

24. Hmm...has the making of a good ad...

nothing about lipstick...just designer duds...and making a silk purse...

[heliarc]

25. It might be necessary...

Because if you saw that red vinyl jacket she was wearing yesterday (today)... you know she has bad taste.

Yuck.

[MsKandice01]

34. True.

I was just asking my husband why she was wearing the jacket from Michael Jackson's Thriller video.

[debbierlus]

26. 150,000 dollars. For the price of a house, she got the whole Caribou Barbie Wardrobe

She walks

She talks

She shops

It's Caribou Barbie. She's a MODERN woman. She shoots moose.

She's interactive. Pull the string and she repeats the talking points 'Wealth Spreaders are Also Socialists'....

Ugh.

[proust78]

27. That's cheap compared to Cindy McCrypt's convention outfit!

Have male VP picks ever gotten a fashion stipend?

[Kalifornia.Kid]

28. Can you imagine if she wore her own clothes ...

[tdog8]

29. And, well....

If the RNC spent all that money on her wardrobe and accessories, what exactly was the look they were going for?

Statesperson? or ?????

[prolesunited]

32. Our campaign needs a spokesmodel!

Does she get to keep the clothes when the ticket is sent packing?

[smb]

60. The RNC Says The Clothes Will Go To Charity

(which, if you think about it, is an implicit concession to the reality that they're going to LOSE) :rofl:

[soupkitchen]

33. Can we call it a Boss Tweeds Scandal

[flpab]

36. her makeover

I knew they had to have dressed Levi for the convention. I have seen all of the pics of them from Alaska and she never seem to have much style. I suppose 150,00 is cheap to McCain compared to the clothing bills for Cindy and Meagan. I read where Sarah's jacket for the convention speech was over a 1000.00. I have never seen a jacket that cost that much but it was a famous designer. oh well, hope she reports those fancy clothes to H&R Block next year as income when they do her taxes.

[Capt. America]

35. I wonder if she bought any "naughties" for the First Dude?

[smb]

37. How Much For Lipstick?

[Barbara2423]

38. Palin's clothes are getting tighter and tighter

McCain and Palin are both disgusting.

[Hissyspit]

43. and uglier and uglier.

[Warren Stupidity]

39. Remember when it was a HUGH SCANDLE when Clinton got a $400 haricut?

HUGH! Almost the end right there.

This corrupt criminal fucktards have no shame.

[GinaMaria]

40. hmmm.... I noticed that sea green jacket outfit

from a few weeks ago as a Tahari that I saw on sale. Guess they don't shop where I shop. Maybe they prefer to overpay? What am I thinking? They're repukes. Of course they waste money as long it is someone elses.

[Tutonic]

41. Republicans are fools! Allow this lady and her klan of idot children

to spend $150,000 of their donations collected from pig farmers on an election wardrobe? Does anyone really trust this lady to go away after November 4th without demanding a ransom?

[Tansy_Gold]

42. Just as a reminder of how OUR SIDE does it

http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/obama/1131869,CST-NWS-fashion28WEB.article

Presidential nominee Barack Obama and wife Michelle are showing off Chicago-made fashions in their most important appearances on stage at the Democratic National Convention.

Thursday night, when Obama will accept the presidential nomination, he will wear a navy blue, worsted wool two-button suit that Hartmarx custom made just for him. Hartmarx is a 121-year-old Chicago-based manufacturer of high-end men's suits.


Obama, who wears a 40 long with a 33-inch waist, has worn Hart Schaffner Marx suits in the past but always off the rack, said an inside source. He favors the Gold Trumpeter collection. This time, he made appointments with Hartmarx tailors for his nomination-night suit.

<end snip>

I tried to find another article I had about this but it may have been lost in my computer meltdown in August. The missing article played up that the HSM plant in Des Plaines, IL is a union shop, which was one of Obama's reasons for prefering their clothes.



Tansy Gold

[FVZA_Colonel]

44. It's hard to think much of your average McCain/Palin donor,

but no one deserves to be ripped off like this. This is simply unacceptable.

[Democat]

45. This story undermines the McCain campaign and should be used!

Every Democratic talking head that we have should be launched to talk about this story.

This undermines the very foundation of the McCain campaign that they are running.

This is not trivial in any way, it is essential that this story reach voters.

Please, let Obama send the Democratic television personalities out into the world to scream this to anyone who will listen.

This will probably even hurt McCain in Pennsylvania if it's used!

[Raine]

46. Wonder what Joe "the plumber" thinks

about this! :evilgrin:

[EFerrari]

47. I KNEW it.

[dipsydoodle]

48. Face filler

is a whole a lot cheaper at The Depot.

[jdadd]

49. Like Dolly Parton said.....

It costs a lot to look this cheap..:rofl:

[radfringe]

50. isn't that like...ummm a clothing subsidy?

imagine if a bill was introduced in congress for "clothing stamps" n/t

[Demeter]

51. They Should Have Shelled Out for her Lawyers

Of course, they probably did.

[zelta gaisma]

53. and she/ they wonder why she's called carribu barbie

I'm a barbie girl, in the barbie world
Life in plastic, it's fantastic!
you can brush my hair, undress me everywhere
Imagination, life is your creation


< AQUA LYRICS from "Barbie Girl">

[MissMillie]

56. She only needs to look good from the back

because that's the view we're going to get of her as we boot her ass out the door.

[Hubert Flottz]

57. I think most of that was for lipstick...

[DS1]

58. This also simply shows how overpriced that stuff is

Does she now have 600 overcoats, 1400 skirts, 2000 blouses?

No.

[One_Life_To_Give]

59. Confirmation of Sexism?

If any male candidate spent 150k on looks it would be scandalous. But I am not sure a woman running for President could go with a cheaper wardrobe and not be assailed for her poor looks/taste etc.

[GinaMaria]

62. Extreme makeover republican style?

Just throw some expensive shit at it but don't do anything to repair the structural or internal damage. That pretty much describes the repub party of the new millennium. Palin is a metaphor for their approach to everything.

[DS1]

63. Error: You've already recommended that thread.

:)

[robinlynne]

64. But John Edwards paid 400.00 for a haircut!

sarcasm thingie here

[Heywood J]

65. Damn, that's a lot of money.

I mean, if you're a guy and you buy 15 really nice suits to make it through a Presidential campaign, that might be $20-30,000 - but those suits should last a lifetime and certainly your next four years. That's also money that should be spent out of the candidate's own pocket.

If Obama or Biden spent as much as a house on fashion, Republicans would be shrieking.