Posted by barath on Wed Oct 22, 2008 at 12:02 AM Pacific

GOPers Digusted By RNC Spending On Palin Wardrobe

Even Republicans are upset at the recent revelation that the RNC has spent over $150,000 on clothing in just one month for Sarah Palin.  Marc Ambinder explains:

Republicans, RNC donors and at least one RNC staff member have e-mailed me tonight to share their utter  (and not-for-attribution) disgust at the expenditures.

This sort of spending is without precedent -- the closest approximation for any campaign I've ever covered is make-up expenses for television interviews and commercial shoots -- , and Schmitt's weakly defensive response tonight indicates that the campaign is deeply embarrassed by it and has nothing to say in their defense. Spokespeople have clammed up, a sure sign that they're trying to figure out who authorized the expenses and who knew about them.  Did Palin wear all of the clothing? Where is it kept?

More than simply the wastefulness of the spending is the message it sends, as Aminder sums up nicely:

[T]he heat for this story will come from Republicans who cannot understand how their party would do something this stupid ... particularly (and, it must be said, viewed retroactively) during the collapse of the financial system and the probable beginning of a recession.

It's the ultimate pocketbook hypocrisy.  As John Aravosis points out, Sarah Palin spent in one month what the average American household spends on clothes in 80 years.  And this isn't the first time Palin's extravagant expenditures are beyond the means of upper-middle class Americans, let alone those who are the hardest hit by the economic downturn.

GOPers Digusted By RNC Spending On Palin Wardrobe

Even Republicans are upset at the recent revelation that the RNC has spent over $150,000 on clothing in just one month for Sarah Palin.  Marc Ambinder explains:

Republicans, RNC donors and at least one RNC staff member have e-mailed me tonight to share their utter  (and not-for-attribution) disgust at the expenditures.

This sort of spending is without precedent -- the closest approximation for any campaign I've ever covered is make-up expenses for television interviews and commercial shoots -- , and Schmitt's weakly defensive response tonight indicates that the campaign is deeply embarrassed by it and has nothing to say in their defense. Spokespeople have clammed up, a sure sign that they're trying to figure out who authorized the expenses and who knew about them.  Did Palin wear all of the clothing? Where is it kept?

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