Antje, Shell - I only mentioned my party affiliation to put my comments into perspective - I really don't want to start a political debate or even a "who are you voting for" discussion in YLF! I've got enough of that going on in my real life right now.
I watched Daily Show, and I have to say, my stomach churned over the Palin wardrobe jokes. The other night, when John Stewart was going on and on, skewering Palin's small town quotes - now THAT I thought was well worth ridiculing and he did a great job.
(I am originally from a small town, raised by small town parents with small town ethics, and I can assure you that living in a city is no different - Boston and NYC especially really are just like a bunch of small towns smushed together in one space. I was personally offended by Palin's comments).
But skewering her wardrobe? Nope!!!
Even if the RNC paid for it. She was a darkhorse candidate out of literally NOWHERE and had to step in quickly. She did not have time to acquire clothes befitting the white house, and to budget a slow makeover like many of us are doing here. Yes, I think this is a perfectly legitimate party expense - even if she had been a male candidate.
I don't even balk at the $150K! I imagine that included a professional stylist to come in FAST, and a lot of $ spent on tailoring. Probably also included money to fly her to department stores - what kind of shopping must they have in Wasilla?
Yes, I know it's a lot of $ to spend, more than many people make in a year. But we all know a nice wardrobe costs money. No matter what sort of budget we each are on, we have years to acquire and build our wardrobes. Now just imagine building a wardrobe suitable for the white house in lickety-split time.
Image DOES matter when it comes to certain professions, and a white house executive - in my opinion - needs to spend just as much time, care, attention, $, and effort into their image as a newscaster. Male or female. That's just the nature of the profession.
Male politicians spend a fortune on their suits. I'm sure. I know my dad, who was an executive all his life, would easily drop $800-1000 on a tailored suit, and $500 on a good pair of shoes. And he had a closet full of them (though only a few pairs of shoes - that he'd get resoled year after year - and he'd shine them himself every morning; as a kid, I'd help him. I can still smell the shoe polish). And those prices were back in the 60s, 70s, and 80s. Even ties and shirts are expensive. McCain, Obama, Biden - all of them have had years to build up a wardrobe and I would bet if you tallied it all up, yes, their wardrobes run close to $150K too! The $ just came out of their own pockets.
I bet we could go on Neiman Marcus, Nordies, or Bloomies site right now, and pick out a complete Fall wardrobe that costs $100K easily. Without the cost of a personal image consultant, tailoring, hair cut and color, frequent manicures, and airfare if that was necessary.
This is the only point I will defend Palin on. As a dem, I really think making this an issue makes democrats look bad, and Palin look better.
It would be quite sad if "Palin's wardrobe" became the key turning issue of this upcoming election!
