Article Contributed on: 10/23/2008 7:34:24 AM
As someone who stood in line for several hours to see Sarah Palin and who has a McCain '08 sign in the front yard, this is tough to write.
Much is being made about the $150,000 spent by the RNC to "doll up" Governor Sarah Palin. The money went for clothes, accessories and hair/makeup.
Oops.
Sometime a go, a broadcast news consultant told me that to viewers, their perception is their reality. And when someone spends $150,000 on clothes etc, not many people on Main Street will understand. Most make less than half of that over a full year.
Ever hear of Kohl's?
There is no small irony that many of the pundits taking shots at this have clothing allowances built into their contracts. It's pretty common even at the local level. But I doubt anyone will ask how much Katie Couric or Campbell Brown spends on clothes. Or care.
Double-standard? Not really. They're not running for office. Sarah Palin is.
The RNC has made a lot of mistakes in this campaign. This could be the dumbest.
The sad part, while this is a dumb move, the Democrat's gaffes (and there's a ton of them) get overlooked or glossed over. Not the least of which is Joe Biden's recent crisis prediction. But you see, Joe has been in Washington for decades. He goes to the same parties the people covering him do. Sarah Palin doesn't.
That's where the double standard is simply attrocious. But for goodness sake, don't give a biased media more ammo than they already have. That's where, as far as "strategery" goes, the RNC have been tone-deaf.