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Title: ‘Frugal’ Sarah Palin faces second hearing on Troopergate
Source:
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URL Source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/ne ... 8.ece#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=2637446
Published: Oct 25, 2008
Author: Tim Reid in Washington
Post Date: 2008-10-24 17:25:54 by angle
Keywords: None
Views: 53
Comments: 1
Sarah Palin insisted yesterday that she was frugal as she sought to defend the controversial $150,000 (£94,000) clothes budget lavished on her since becoming John McCain’s running-mate, amid mounting evidence that she has become a significant drag on the Republican ticket. The Alaska Governor spoke hours before giving a sworn deposition in the Troopergate inquiry as a second investigation opened into whether she abused her office by trying to get a state policeman fired to settle a personal score. A first report issued earlier this month concluded that she violated ethics laws in attempts to get her former brother-in-law sacked. The revelation that the Republican National Committee spent $150,000 in September on clothes, hair and make-up for Mrs Palin and her family – undermining her image as an average “Hockey Mom” – was part of a set of broader problems facing the Alaska Governor. New polls show that she has become a bigger liability for Mr McCain, 72, than any other factor. A Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll on Wednesday asked voters what concerns them about the Republican ticket, and Mrs Palin was the No 1 worry for them; 47 per cent had a negative impression of her, while only 38 per cent see her in a positive light. Her inexperience and faltering responses to foreign policy questions has also helped to erase the “Palin bounce” that boosted the ticket in the fortnight after she was chosen: 55 per cent now think that she is unqualified to be president, a troublesome number given Mr McCain’s age. It also emerged that the highest-paid McCain staff member for the first two weeks of this month was Mrs Palin’s make-up artist. Amy Strozzi, who once did make-up work on the television show So You Think You Can Dance?, received $22,800 for that fortnight, more than the candidate’s chief foreign policy adviser. In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, Mrs Palin said of the purchases at such exclusive clothes shops as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus: “If people only knew how Todd [her husband] and I and our kids shop so frugally. My favourite shop is a consignment shop in Anchorage, Alaska, called Out of the Closet. She said of the controversy: “That whole thing is just bad! What did they say, 150 grand? It wasn’t anywhere near that. Those are not ours. We give those back, those go to charity or they’ll be auctioned off.” She added: “It’s kind of painful to be criticised for that, that is not who we are.” Vice-presidential picks rarely have a significant impact on the outcome of presidential races, but Mrs Palin is emerging as an exception. While she has energised the conservative base – a crucial factor for Mr McCain in turn-out-the-vote efforts on Election Day – she is also being cited as a major reason by some prominent Republicans for their defections to Barack Obama. Colin Powell, President Bush’s former Secretary of State, said that her unreadiness to be president was a significant factor in his endorsement of the Democrat last week. Ken Adelman, a Republican hawk and former close friend of Dick Cheney who has become disillusioned with the Bush Administration, is backing Mr Obama. He said that the choice of Mrs Palin had made him switch sides. Mrs Palin yesterday gave her first major policy speech – on children with special needs – in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a state that she and Mr McCain are targeting. Her six-month-old son Trig has Down’s syndrome. Mr Obama returns to the campaign trail today after visiting his gravely ill grandmother in Hawaii.
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#1. To: angle (#0)
Chris Matthews the Commentator figured that Sarah the Snake's November wardrobe and hair - why would a reptilian need hair? - were worth $23,000 more than Joe the Plumber's house.
Antiparty - find out why, think about 'how'
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