Sarah: It's Not About the Shoes

For Obama wearing out his shoes is part of the job. This picture was taken prior to his third resole on this pair. And no, they are not the $525 Italian imports favored by John McCain.


It turns out Sarah Palin has taken over $150,000 of campaign donations and spent it on clothes, including a Louis Vuitton bag for her 7-year old (see slide show at link).

The campaign also trowled $13,200 worth of makeup onto her face in September alone. Wow! What is she hiding under all that foundation? We've all heard about putting lipstick on a pig, but that's ridiculous!

The funny thing is I have always thought Palin looked like she bought her clothes at the bargain rack -- an excusable thing from somone who no doubt lives far from a Nordstrom or Bloomingdales. Silly me! It turns out Sarah Palin simply has bad taste. How else to explain this dowdy look for $150,000?

As for Barack and Michelle Obama, they have gotten fashion respect for being the very essence of good taste.

So, how do they do it? Simple: they buy good stuff off the rack (most of it pretty moderately priced) and they maintain it as if they paid for it themselves (which they did).

And no, that kind of clear level-headed thinking does not cost a fortune. It simply requires good choices, solid discipline and a firm belief that, no matter what the game, it's not about the shoes.

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As the wheels come off the McCain bus, and the sagging frame scrapes the tarmac so hard it throws a rooster-tail of sparks into a darkening sky, everyone is moving to distance themselves from what appears to be an inevitable political crash. Florida Republican Governor Charlie Crist, for example, has already noted that he buys his suits off the rack at Dillard's department store in Florida.

But still the hits keep coming.

It turns out Sarah Palin charged the state of Alaska over $21,000 for her children to travel with her to events to which they were not invited. When she was caught out on that, she then amended her expense reports to say the kids were on "official business." No explanation for how a 40-minute speech turned into a four-day junket with her daughter in New York City with accomodations at a $700-a-night hotel. . .

This little scandal follows on the heels of the revelation that Ms. Palin used a government "per diem" allowance to charge Alaska taxpayers for more than 300 nights she spent in her own home.

And, of course, there is the house itself. It seems her house in Wassila was built by the same contractor that built that $12 million sports complex (for a town of 6,000). Hmmmmm.

And more seems to come out everday, from no knowing what the Vice President does (it's not to "run the senate" as she had repeatedly said), to demonization of all of America that is not small town and pure white.

And more is yet to come, no doubt. On Friday, Palin will have to give a deposition in the "Troopergate" fiasco. She has already been found guilty of violating state ethics laws by a bi-partisan investigation. Now a the Personnel Commission (which she can fire at will), has to decide whether to sanction her for those violations. No matter what they do, that is sure to be more wood to the fire.



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