I don’t really mean that headline; I just like the pun.
I have been traveling and working so much in the past few days that I haven’t had time to pay attention to the news or blog. I kept hearing snippets, though, that people were shocked about Palin’s wardrobe. I have to say that is silly.
So, apparently, the GOP spent $150 on Palin’s wardrobe for the campaign. Many on the left have been up in arms about it, claiming things like this from The Huffington Post:
If Sara Palin is the no-nonsense frugal hockey mom that she purports to be, she should have said “Thanks but no thanks,” to the RNC when they offered her a $150 K wardrobe and $11.4 K a week makeup artist, as she supposedly told Congress when they approved an earmark to Alaska for the infamous Bridge to Nowhere. Or did she take the money and spend it on something else?
While the logic here is probably quite strong in the mind of this blogger, there is a problem. Interestingly, the problem is addressed in the very blog post to which this comment is posted:
Palin spent chump change on her clothes, hell, Cindy McCain’s outfit for the nomination was around $300K, that’s just one, not an entire wardrobe, so at least you all got a bargain… And yes, she took her kids with her on trips as governor. Again, she spent a fraction of any regular budget and in this case, she was damned if she did and damned if she didn’t. If she left the kids home, she’d be a bad mom for always being gone and if she took her with themhttp://graystate.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post-new.php on her dime she’d be broke.
The GOP is in a tough spot. They know that women are judged on a double-standard, that their wardrobe is highly scrutinized – think of the Hillary Clinton pantsuits jokes David Letterman has been making for 20 years, think of commentary on Condoleezza Rice’s fashion by Pulitzer Prize winning Fashion Writer Robin Givhan – whereas men’s wardrobe rarely is. McCain can wear the same suit for a month and nobody will even know. On the other hand, Palin, or her “handlers,” has to be on her toes because people not only notice women’s clothes more, but outfits are more distinctive and easier to notice, especially if they’re in colors, like Palin’s. McCain and Obama wear black and gray every day. Who would notice if they never changed? Palin wears red, white, black, gray, green – you name it.
There is nothing wrong with the campaign mixing it up and making her look good to meet the demands of the gender double-standard. It’s not even like one party created the double-standard. It’s a cultural development, and we’re all trapped in it.
Other comments from the Huffington Post blog are more reasonable:
Finally, I’m more worried about how high the unemployment rate is going to climb (some estimate 9%). That’s huge! That’s more important to me than Palin and the $$ the RNC spent on her.
Others can’t miss an opportunity to drive a wedge into the divide that is partisanship:
Girl, please! Miss Thing is not competing for Miss Gay Greater Gulf States At Large. She is running for the second highest office in the land. She should show some restraint. Restraint, check it out. Nothing exceeds like excess.
You miss the point – shouldn’t she ALREADY own some nice clothes? She’s a state official, for god’s sake. Did she wear pink jogging outfits to state functions? How did she exist before she bought nice clothes using other people’s money?
The great divide makes stories out of nothing. Maybe this is the left’s answer to the William Ayers or ACORN connections. It’s certainly not about what matters, no matter how hard the left tries to stretch into that.
