Palin's New Clothes

Controversy has erupted over the price Palin pays to look good. Why do we care how much Palin is paying, if it’s coming out of her own pocket?

Because it’s not. A Politico article reported that the RNC has invested $150,000 in Palin’s wardrobe, which has upset Republican donors.

It started with the infamous Japanese glasses, at $375 per pair. It went on to a shopping spree at Saks Fifth Avenue for about $50,000 and $75,000 at Neiman Marcus, according to a Washington Post article.

This is interesting to me, because it plays with the lines of legality regarding campaign finance, which is supposed to be McCain’s strong policy stance—just look at McCain/Feingold, or BCRA, and his acceptance of public funding in the GE, when Obama turned it down.

Anyway, it’s too bad for Palin that she’s getting criticized for her clothes. The campaign announced that Palin will donate the clothes to charity once the election is over, so essentially she only gets to look good for less than two more weeks. Yes, GOP, I too would rather have a well-dressed Vice Presidential nominee than a well dressed Vice President.

The bright side is, the Republican Party will be forced to unite in the face of criticism. But that’s the same logic as, “negative ads teach voters more about candidates than policy ads”: does that mean we should continue it?

Why do we criticize John Kerry when he gets $400 haircuts, or when Hilary Clinton spends $6,000 on a makeover? They are under public scrutiny almost every minute of every hour of every day for years, and under even more scrutiny if they get into office. Maybe it costs that much to make you look like you’re not working on 2.5 hours of sleep, or you haven’t eaten anything but coffee and muffins in the last 34 hours. I’ve never been on the campaign trail, so I wouldn’t be able to tell you what lengths I would go to ensure that there isn’t an article in the New York Times about my four grey hairs, or the bags underneath my eyes, or the worry lines that seem to have appeared out of nowhere. But spending donors money on knee high boots? Sorry Palin, I know those boots were made for walking, but not for walking over your Party’s donors.