Maybe a pair of stylish red pumps to match a red leather jacket, among other items, at Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis: $75,062.63.
Top-notch baby accessories at Steiniauf & Stroller Inc.: $295.
Looking good on the campaign trail for Sarah Palin: Priceless.
Love her or hate her, the Alaska governor’s got style. But we now know she’s had quite a bit of help picking up the shopping tab.
The Republican National Committee has spent $150,000 on clothing and accessories for the vice-presidential candidate and her family since early September, according to Politico.com. The RNC also spent $4,716.49 on hair and makeup through September after reporting no such costs in August.
According to financial disclosure records, the accessorizing began in early September around the time of the Republican convention. Other bills included $9,447.71 at Macy’s in Minneapolis, where the Palin family stayed during the conventions, and $5,102.71 at Bloomingdale’s in New York.
Campaign finance experts are wondering about the expenditures’ legality under the Federal Election Commission’s opinions on using campaign cash to purchase items for personal use. But a Republican strategist told The New York Daily News the expenditure by the party committee was legal.
Remember Democrat John Edwards’s $400 hair cuts in 2007?
McCain-Palin campaign spokeswoman Maria Comella declined to answer specific questions about the expenditures, including whether Palin ran up the RNC tab just during one period of time, or whether it’s ongoing.
“The campaign does not comment on strategic decisions regarding how financial resources available to the campaign are spent," Comella told Politico.com.
But later Tuesday night, spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt said the clothes will be given to charity after the November 4 general election.
"With all of the important issues facing the country right now, it’s remarkable that we’re spending time talking about pantsuits and blouses," Schmitt said in a statement. "It was always the intent that the clothing go to a charitable purpose after the campaign.”
Meanwhile, the Associated Press reports that Palin charged the state of Alaska more than $21,000 for her children to travel with her since she has been governor, including to events where they were not invited, and later said on expense reports they were on official business.
The charges included:
-Hotel and commercial flights for three daughters to join Palin to watch their father in a snowmobile race.
-A trip to New York, where the governor attended a five-hour conference and stayed with 17-year-old Bristol for five days and four nights in a luxury hotel.
-64 one-way and 12 round-trip commercial flights for the three daughters since December 2006.
Alaska law does not specifically address expenses for a governor’s children, but it allows for payment of expenses for anyone conducting official state business.
ref.wowowow.
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