The Politics of Wardrobe Costs

By now everybody has probably heard the story about the RNC spending $150,000 on Sarah Palin’s clothing and makeup. I mentioned this story to my wife this morning and, while she detests Sarah Palin, she came to her defense on this. Clothing (and hair and makeup) just cost a LOT more for women than for men. Anybody who reads the regular fashion and Hollywood journals knows that designer outfits run in the thousands. And Sarah Palin HAS to look good every day. Everybody is watching her.

I got the point and figured it was just a silly media over-reaction.

But then I remembered the mockery of John Edwards and his $400 haircut and how this stuff really does matter to the electorate for whatever reason. I think there are three reasons why this is bad for Palin.

1. Her image is the “regular hockey mom” and not the Hollywood glamor queen. She would actually bolster her image by shopping at TJ Maxx or even Wal-Mart than by going to Neiman Marcus or Saks. This is politics, not fashion. And she can make a great populist statement about dressing like ordinary women. She did, after all, make a very big deal about firing the chef in the governor’s mansion. Surely she could cut some costs on wardrobe expenses as a sign of identification with her conservative populist supporters. John Edwards was similarly mocked for speaking up for the common man while getting an expensive salon experience.

2. In these tough times nobody wants to hear about massive expenditures on clothing and makeup. It sends a terrible message to struggling families: you don’t make a third of Palin’s monthly wardrobe. Again, it’s tone-deaf.

3. The media LOVES idiotic stories like this. It shows poor decision-making by the RNC, Palin’s image as fraudulent, and sets her up for more SNL-style mockery.

As I recount these things, I can’t help but echo Jed’s point that this is the point when people start to talk of McCain’s campaign in the past tense. Republican officials are reportedly furious with the RNC over this. They usually capitalize on this sort of thing from the other side.

Perhaps most troubling to McCain is that this costs him another news cycle. With Colin Powell, the $150,000,000 fundraising for Obama, the massive Missouri rallies and now this, McCain has been pushed off message again. No longer are we talking about Joe the Plumber or taking seriously the charge that Obama is a “socialist.” And if the polls continue to move in Obama’s direction – which they have for the last couple days after a slight tightening last week – this election will be in the past tense sooner rather than later.