Carl Tyler's Blog

1 - Hilarious. I am sure the other party didnt finance any clothes at all for their candidate and wife.

2 - @slavko, that's true: Politico (who originally broke this story) researched the Dems' expenditures, and Barack/Joe are buying their own clothes. 'Course, they're better off than most, but they're not trying to pretend they aren't while dropping $150K in a single month on wardrobe.

3 - I would like to see the flip side of this?

Obama does not look like he has spared any expense on his clothes, and his Wife has stepped it up a bit too. So I don't see anything wrong with it really. it's politics as usual.

If they had put her out there in what she used to wear, we would have all been complaining about how ratty she looked.

4 - @David, the difference is that, if Obama and his wife have been spending extravagantly on their wardrobe (for possible evidence to the contrary, next time you get an opportunity, take a close look at his shoes...), the money is coming out of his book royalties. In Palin's case, the wardrobe expenses were funded by campaign donations to the RNC... and since they found out about this expense, many of those donors are now saying they feel their donation was wasted.

In short, the Obamas are spending their own money (conservative), Palin is spending other people's money (liberal). That is the logical disconnect here. One of McCain's strongest campaign arguments is that he would seek to reduce wasteful spending, but allowing the RNC to spend donors' contributions on shopping sprees of this magnitude at Neiman Marcus shows that he lacks either leadership in this area or a clear vision of what constitutes waste.

You may be right: had they not purchased her a whole new wardrobe, the media might have ridiculed her for looking too plain. However, the whole point of having Palin on the ticket was to personify the "average citizen"; if the criticism were that her clothes are ordinary, that would play right into the campaign narrative, reinforcing the claim that she is one of us, and therefore understands us and will work tirelessly for us. Instead, the revelation of this type of spending reinforces the existing criticism that she's against wasteful spending when she doesn't benefit but fine with it when she does, and undermines McCain's attempts to make Barack appear elitist. In other words, this isn't the worst mistake a campaign could make... just a very easy one to avoid had they thought it through.

5 - She is running for Vice President of the most influential country in the world. Of course she needs to look good, and she and her husband are not rich. I'm sure those that have contributed to the RNC are fine with her and her family wearing clothes that look presidential. Those that gave to the RNC want her to win - so of course the money will be used for those things that can help in a victory - like looking decent. So what's the big deal? There is none - move on..

6 - I think the main point is, that both parties spend money on things that people would think would be frivolous or odd. (Not to mention mistresses, a la John Edwards)

7 - @Tim - I think the point that you made, "In short, the Obamas are spending their own money (conservative), Palin is spending other people's money (liberal)" is a little harsh. I don't know that Obama is spending his own money and at this point who cares. They all have loads of money to spend and when you donate you r money you don't get to say what it goes for, I think people assume it's for the good of the party.

I don't think it's wasteful spending, she is wearing them isn't she? If they were sitting in the RV and she wan out in Jeans and a Palin t-Shirt, then I might agree with you, but she is putting them on and using them.

It's silly to not think that any one of them is any more elitist than the other. They are all politicians. Some people see them differently than others, but at the end of the day most politicians are slimmy, nasty, people who couldn't do well without all the attention and BS that goes along with it.

Sadly we have gotten to this point in only 200 years....most civilizations took for more time.

I will have to agree with Brian, he makes a fair point. Palin is not wealthy like Obama, Biden, or even McCain, while she seemed to have dressed nice in pictures form Alaska, they have made her look very presidential. She is a common a Governor you could find.

The big deal is that the media, left or right, is making a big deal about it. So we have gone from the issues to Celebrity watching again. FOCUS PEOPLE FOCUS!