tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15191330.post5244288551152578228..comments2023-11-28T05:28:18.563-05:00Comments on All Things Ken: GOP Spends 150 K of Donations on Palin Clothes and Make UpKenneth R. Morefieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02492954693818444648noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15191330.post-81639143545146092922008-10-22T20:53:00.000-05:002008-10-22T20:53:00.000-05:00Actually, the McCain campaign accepted public fina...Actually, the McCain campaign accepted public financing, which is in part why the stink. If you accept public financing in an American system, then you have to follow campaign finance laws about how it is spent.<BR/><BR/>If the McCain campaign had eschewed public financing and run solely on contributions, then it would look bad, but they could certainly argue that our contributers gave us the money to spend as we see fit. Once they accepted public financing, they are not spending their own money, they are spending public money that has been given to them for campaigning. As the linked story mentions one of the restrictions by law of federal campaign funding is that you can't take public financing for your campaign and spend it on yourself.Kenneth R. Morefieldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02492954693818444648noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15191330.post-71951718722657499452008-10-22T16:08:00.000-05:002008-10-22T16:08:00.000-05:00Well, for what it's worth, I agree that it looks b...Well, for what it's worth, I agree that it looks bad for someone who once made a big deal about how she drives her own car to the Governor's office to suddenly be soaking up lots of other people's money for clothes and stuff. If there's any defense the Republicans can offer, I guess it would be that at least they are spending their own money on this, rather than the taxpayers'.Peter T Chattawayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07395937367596387523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15191330.post-6661538960635715902008-10-22T16:01:00.000-05:002008-10-22T16:01:00.000-05:00Hi Peter:Perhaps, but the problem I have with that...Hi Peter:<BR/>Perhaps, but the problem I have with that argument is that the wardrobe should fit the role you are playing. Certainly if I were running as an independent and my role were as successful business person who could run the country as well as I run my business (i.e. Steve Forbes), then I want to wear a power suit. If my role were that of a plucky underdog David standing up to Goliath elites, then I wouldn't want to dress and act just like them.<BR/><BR/>I think the GOP is stuck on this one because the "everybody does it" argument doesn't fly too well when the centerpiece of your message is "We're not like everybody else" nor when your supposed difference is that you better identify with "real Americans" who are suffering.Kenneth R. Morefieldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02492954693818444648noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15191330.post-48792961882004666312008-10-22T13:28:00.000-05:002008-10-22T13:28:00.000-05:00Politics is theatre, and actors need wardrobes. A...Politics is theatre, and actors need wardrobes. All the male candidates get to wear designer suits, and it wouldn't surprise me if their parties were putting up at least some of the tab for that. It also wouldn't surprise me if female candidates needed a little more, um, attention than their male counterparts. Maybe not <I>that</I> much more attention, but still. If I were running as an independent, then yeah, I might write off at least some of my clothes, especially the higher-end stuff, as a business expense -- because if I wasn't appearing in public all the time, I wouldn't need to be wearing them.Peter T Chattawayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07395937367596387523noreply@blogger.com