Too expensive for the people

In every election year, we are always faced with the same question: Do these candidates represent me? That’s why we wind up with candidates that have backcountry accents, or are East Coasters or Southerners. They want to relate to people and make a darned good effort to make that happen.

In this election, for example, we hear about Barack Obama and his family, Joe Biden as a single dad, John McCain as a war veteran and Sarah Palin with her imitation Midwestern (not remotely Alaskan) accent.

Yet Gov. Palin did slip up in one major way. In her on-going effort to prove that she’s “one of the people,” she managed to rack up a $150,000 bill for clothing and makeup for herself and her family over the last two months. This, in no way, relates to the majority of the people.

It’s true, as CNN pundit Campbell Brown pointed out, there is a double standard for women in the limelight. They have to both look pretty and professional enough to be taken seriously, as we saw with Hillary Clinton’s campaign.

Looking back, she was scrutinized by John Edwards for showing an inch of cleavage on the Senate floor. Yet it did also come out that Edwards spends $400 for a haircut. That’s about where the double standard stops and we realize that if something the candidate does is completely ridiculous, the public will find out.

I do feel a little bad for Sarah Palin. Republican consultant Jeff Larson purchased her wardrobe and she did not have a hand in the selection. In this way, Larson did Palin a terrible disfavor. She did, however, still wear it.

Her inability to recognize that this selection could damage her image or wear the clothes unquestioningly proves to us that she is not independent enough to make a successful vice president or president if required. She may have been blindsided by the nomination, but if she were really ready to take on such a major role, she may look at the image that her party is putting on her.

Her personal defense of the clothing costs was also ill advised. The information on the extravagant expenses came from the monthly Republican National Convention financial disclosure statement. Yet, when asked about the clothing and makeup, Palin said they “were loaned to us during the convention. And I don’t think it was anywhere near…What did they say…150 grand? It wasn’t anywhere near that.” Palin obviously hasn’t seen the list if she is going to debunk her own party’s financial report. Interestingly enough, Palin first claimed that the clothing was loaned to her, but later claims, “those go to charity or they’ll be auctioned off or whatever.” And, to make it worse, the RNC wouldn’t have spent $150,000 if the clothing were on loan.

As for the charity claim, no person in need is going to want clothes from Neiman Marcus. Designer fashion will not put food in your stomach, a roof over your head or keep you warm. If the clothes are going to be auctioned, it would be more convincing if Palin actually knew what was going to happen to these clothes instead of “those go to charity or they’ll be auctioned off or whatever.”

If this is her way of passing this off now, can you envision the level of corruption that could so easily occur in the White House? Sure, now it’s little white lies or oversights about clothing costs, but would we hear the same thing about a larger sum of money later?

I am getting tired of hearing how “one of the people” Palin is. She claims that her favorite clothing store is Out of the Closet, a consignment store located in Anchorage. Looking at this store’s Web site, however, it’s pretty easy to see that the store is reselling designer fashions that still run hundreds of dollars.

I wonder what people Palin is talking about when she thinks that she is just like everyone else. I know I certainly couldn’t afford to purchase a mink jacket for $1500, even if it were used. She also claimed her favorite shoe store is Shoefly, but I don’t know how many of us are spending a minimum of a $100 for a pair of shoes.

I know that a vice presidential candidate should look professional enough to do the job, but it’s unsettling when their stories simply don’t match up. To say you think that your family represents the greater country by being married, Christian and a hockey mom, and then let people dress you up like a doll in designer fashions is ridiculous.

Considering her unwillingness to do interviews, the overly restricted debate with Sen. Biden, and all of the uninformed speeches she has made, it seems that this fashion debacle is just one more piece of evidence that Gov. Palin is neither strong enough or prepared enough to be the vice president of the United States.

If she doesn’t care to make a choice on her clothing style or to admit that the clothes were too expensive, then she will not be capable of making an honest decision as the vice president of the United States.