# GOP Spends $150K To Dress Up Their Caribou Barbie Doll **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 22, 2008, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-spends-150k-to-dress-up-their-caribou-barbie-doll/469048 "2008-10-22T13:40:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2008, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-spends-150k-to-dress-up-their-caribou-barbie-doll/469048/221 "2008-10-25T02:41:41Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > How you dress for a job interview - and a political campaign is little more than an extended job interview - isn’t related to how you were raised or your station in life. Excellent. And the same goes for her makeup artist, who is the highest paid person in her retinue, as well as her hair stylist. But fashion experts are wondering how in the world they spent $150,000, given what the pics they have seen of Palin. And 2 vendors say they can’t find records of the goods being purchased. There is also the matter of obeying the law. The RNC/Palin may be in violation of FEC rules. There is also a potential charity scam angle. And the IRS may take a less generous view of this form of income. All these matters could potentially be cleared up with a little candor from the campaign. But given that Palin isn’t even releasing her medical records, such transparency is unlikely. > [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > The simple truth is that nobody really knows who she is because she effectively didn’t exist politically until a short time ago. Not quite. We don’t know who she is, because the campaign doesn’t allow her to give press conferences and the campaign doesn’t allow her to appear on the Sunday talk shows. There was plenty of time to introduce America to Palin’s character and thought patterns, but the campaign decided not to take that route. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2008, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-spends-150k-to-dress-up-their-caribou-barbie-doll/469048/222 "2008-10-25T08:44:20Z")
Imagine if Barack Obama had gotten plastic surgery secretly after getting the nomination, paid for with contributor funding, to enhance his good looks, straighten his teeth a bit, lengthen his penis, remove bunions from his feet, buff his street-gang scars, remove a tat or three, etc. all wth the intent of making him more delicious to the voters–same stupid rules would apply, after the press had uncovered this info? You’d be all hand-waving, who-cares-about-this-nonsense? Don’t make me laugh. ---
**Author:** ![dba\_Fred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c37758/32.png) [@dba\_Fred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dba_Fred)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2008, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-spends-150k-to-dress-up-their-caribou-barbie-doll/469048/223 "2008-10-25T13:12:15Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#): > > But there’s a big difference between paying a premium to get things done quickly and correctly, and spending like a drunken sailor. > > These expenditures are firmly in drunken sailor land. As a former sailor (who was/is sometimes drunk) I take offense and must protest that depiction. I’ll have you know that clothing and accessories are the _least-likely_ things a drunken sailor will spend money on (except maybe to get laid). 😃 I still like **Green Bean** even if I don’t care for green beans 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2008, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-spends-150k-to-dress-up-their-caribou-barbie-doll/469048/224 "2008-10-25T14:12:10Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > I don’t care if it’s ridiculous or not. MY point is that Republicans of the less affluent sort are in fact a bit less than pleased about it, and I’m very happy about their unhappiness. > > Consequently, I’d have no problem if Palin spent $150’MM’ (whatever the fuck an MM is - did **buttonjockey** leave out an ampersand?) on clothes. This really is between her and her ‘base.’ > > The purpose of this thread isn’t to throw stones at Sarah Palin or the RNC; it’s to _gloat._ I assume the Pit is the correct forum for political gloating without an intended issue for debate. Oh, by all means then. If her base is too ignorant to realize what a non-issue this is, less power to 'em. _hands you your gloating cloak_ ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2008, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-spends-150k-to-dress-up-their-caribou-barbie-doll/469048/225 "2008-10-25T14:21:21Z")
Tats count as accessories. ---
**Author:** ![quixotic78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/3ab097/32.png) [@quixotic78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quixotic78)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2008, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-spends-150k-to-dress-up-their-caribou-barbie-doll/469048/226 "2008-10-25T19:07:11Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > When I walked in [to a job interview – q78] wearing a fine suit, silk tie and nice shoes, they didn’t think “here’s a rich boy” or “here’s an elitist,” they thought “Here is a man we would be pleased to represent us.” That I was middle class was not relevant. First of all, congratulations on landing the job. But I don’t think your analogy really holds, because presumably you didn’t spend a large part of the interview talking specifically about how unelitist you are, or how much you resemble Joe Sixpack. That’s the part that gets me. Spending $150,000 of donor money on clothes? Maybe a touch extravagant, but par for the course for a campaign, I suppose. Going out on the campaign trail, decrying elitist DC culture while wearing nice but not designer clothes? It doesn’t resonate with me personally, but I don’t see a problem with it. But doing both? Talking about how evil it is to be a fancy pants elitist while literally wearing fancy pants (and skirts)? I don’t see how you can do it without being a hypocrite. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-spends-150k-to-dress-up-their-caribou-barbie-doll/469048/227 "2008-11-05T22:48:06Z")
[Holy shit!](http://www.newsweek.com/id/167581) > [@](#): > > NEWSWEEK has also learned that Palin’s shopping spree at high-end department stores was more extensive than previously reported. While publicly supporting Palin, McCain’s top advisers privately fumed at what they regarded as her outrageous profligacy. One senior aide said that Nicolle Wallace had told Palin to buy three suits for the convention and hire a stylist. But instead, the vice presidential nominee began buying for herself and her family—clothes and accessories from top stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. According to two knowledgeable sources, a vast majority of the clothes were bought by a wealthy donor, who was shocked when he got the bill. Palin also used low-level staffers to buy some of the clothes on their credit cards. The McCain campaign found out last week when the aides sought reimbursement. One aide estimated that she spent “tens of thousands” more than the reported $150,000, and that $20,000 to $40,000 went to buy clothes for her husband. Some articles of clothing have apparently been lost. An angry aide characterized the shopping spree as “Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast,” and said the truth will eventually come out when the Republican Party audits its books. Anybody want to defend this _now?_ ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-spends-150k-to-dress-up-their-caribou-barbie-doll/469048/228 "2008-11-05T23:40:35Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > [Holy shit!](http://www.newsweek.com/id/167581)Anybody want to defend this _now?_ No, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-spends-150k-to-dress-up-their-caribou-barbie-doll/469048/229 "2008-11-05T23:48:14Z")
Unfortunately, [bathrobes](http://www.newsweek.com/id/167581/page/2) seem not to have been on the shopping list. > [@](#): > > At the GOP convention in St. Paul, Palin was completely unfazed by the boys’ club fraternity she had just joined. One night, Steve Schmidt and Mark Salter went to her hotel room to brief her. After a minute, Palin sailed into the room wearing nothing but a towel, with another on her wet hair. She told them to chat with her laconic husband, Todd. “I’ll be just a minute,” she said. That makes me throw up in my mouth a little–can we all say “trashy?” ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-spends-150k-to-dress-up-their-caribou-barbie-doll/469048/230 "2008-11-06T00:37:00Z")
So, now that the election is over, has the McCain campaign or the RNC, or whomever declared which charity is to be the lucky recipient of Palin’s duds? ---
**Author:** ![Rune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e68b1a/32.png) [@Rune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rune)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-spends-150k-to-dress-up-their-caribou-barbie-doll/469048/231 "2008-11-06T01:03:17Z")
$ 150.000. wow! That’s a lot. Hells bells! Almost 0.025% of what Obama used in his election! But perhaps that is just Obama’s idea of spreading the wealth around. One can only speculate how many pit threads and accusations of buying the election, etc. there would have been if it had been the other party which had spend so massively. Perhaps money cannot buy love. But a lot of other things are up for the highest bidder. Didius Julianus will tell you though, that certain things are best left unbought. ---
**Author:** ![Karyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/fbc32d/32.png) [@Karyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karyn)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-spends-150k-to-dress-up-their-caribou-barbie-doll/469048/232 "2008-11-06T01:11:43Z")
The whole thing is insane but when I saw [this](http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/palin.jpg) picture of how she dressed to go shopping at home I started to understand. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-spends-150k-to-dress-up-their-caribou-barbie-doll/469048/233 "2008-11-06T01:15:01Z")
> [@Rune](#): > > $ 150.000. wow! That’s a lot. Hells bells! Almost 0.025% of what Obama used in his election! :rolleyes: Yes, because money spent on outfits for one VP candidate (and her family) is so exactly comparable to money spent for the running of an entire campaign. > [@Rune](#): > > One can only speculate how many pit threads and accusations of buying the election, etc. there would have been if it had been the other party which had spend so massively. Perhaps money cannot buy love. But a lot of other things are up for the highest bidder. Oh, poor baby. Obama raised a lot of money and won, so he must have “bought” the election!! Waaaah!! It’s not fair!! ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-spends-150k-to-dress-up-their-caribou-barbie-doll/469048/234 "2008-11-06T01:23:15Z")
> [@Rune](#): > > $ 150.000. wow! That’s a lot. Hells bells! Almost 0.025% of what Obama used in his election! Yeah, especially after he whined about McCain acting like an elitist celebrity. Oh wait, he didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Rune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e68b1a/32.png) [@Rune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rune)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-spends-150k-to-dress-up-their-caribou-barbie-doll/469048/235 "2008-11-06T01:27:49Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > :rolleyes: Yes, because money spent on outfits for one VP candidate (and her family) is so exactly comparable to money spent for the running of an entire campaign. gee! You think so? > [@Kimstu](#): > > Oh, poor baby. Obama raised a lot of money and won, so he must have “bought” the election!! Waaaah!! It’s not fair!! wadda ya going to do about it? suck it up cry baby. ---
**Author:** ![Dan\_Norder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4af34b/32.png) [@Dan\_Norder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dan_Norder)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-spends-150k-to-dress-up-their-caribou-barbie-doll/469048/236 "2008-11-06T01:37:50Z")
> [@Rune](#): > > wadda ya going to do about it? suck it up cry baby. Wow, someone who’s too stupid to realize that the fake crying was making fun of him instead of genuine crying… Man, we sure do get some pathetic trolls around here. ---
**Author:** ![Rune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e68b1a/32.png) [@Rune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rune)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-spends-150k-to-dress-up-their-caribou-barbie-doll/469048/237 "2008-11-06T01:44:56Z")
> [@Dan\_Norder](#): > > Wow, someone who’s too stupid to realize that the fake crying was making fun of him instead of genuine crying… Man, we sure do get some pathetic trolls around here. Wow, someone who’s too stupid to realize that the fake redneck bullshit was making fun of her instead of genuine redneck bullshit… Man, we sure do get some pathetic fuckheads around here. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-spends-150k-to-dress-up-their-caribou-barbie-doll/469048/238 "2008-11-06T01:51:29Z")
I stand firm in my opposition to fake redneck bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![Rune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e68b1a/32.png) [@Rune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rune)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-spends-150k-to-dress-up-their-caribou-barbie-doll/469048/239 "2008-11-06T01:57:54Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > I stand firm in my opposition to fake redneck bullshit. fuckk that wadda ya gonna do about it?!! opposition is for liberal commie wimps. real men go to war. ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-spends-150k-to-dress-up-their-caribou-barbie-doll/469048/240 "2008-11-06T02:07:26Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > The implication that she’s out of touch with the middle class is an insult to the middle class because it implies that everyone has the same set of values and beliefs. Shame on the Democrats for using this tactic. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-spends-150k-to-dress-up-their-caribou-barbie-doll/469048.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-spends-150k-to-dress-up-their-caribou-barbie-doll/469048.md?page=13)