# So when is Palin giving back all the clothes? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 6, 2008, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-when-is-palin-giving-back-all-the-clothes/471457 "2008-11-06T15:45:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 18
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-when-is-palin-giving-back-all-the-clothes/471457/341 "2008-11-11T22:31:37Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > Sarah, keep avoiding the question about the clothes. It’s some pointless fluff that the haters care about intensely but in the end no one is really going to care. Yeah, keep ignoring the campaign finance laws written by your running mate and the Tax laws of this nation and the laws of common decency of honoring a statement you made about donating them to charity, because mswas is a republican and he does not care when a hot republican hockey mom violates the law that’s why the republicans kick ass at election time. But let some poor schmuck buy a little dope on a street corner and watch out, it’s law&order time. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-when-is-palin-giving-back-all-the-clothes/471457/342 "2008-11-11T22:47:22Z")
> [@Antinor01](#): > > Perhaps just say what you mean next time, I know I would appreciate it. Next time I will try to remember that there are those with reading comprehension issues and cannot handle colloquialisms. I’ll remember to say, “It is common for rock bands on tour to ask for socks and underwear, but not so common that this cannot be debated.” :smack: ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-when-is-palin-giving-back-all-the-clothes/471457/343 "2008-11-11T22:52:23Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > Then you’re lucky that some people are more diligent than you are about looking for cites: > > [Edwards reimburses campaign for haircuts](http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/2007-04-19-edwards_N.htm) Yeah, and I am sure it was his plan all along to do so. The candidate’s image is a legitimate business expense in a campaign where the media’s eye is on them all the time. At least in my view. I would argue that it’s not silly for Edwards to get an expensive haircut just as I am arguing that it’s silly to go on and on about Sarah Palin. > [@](#): > > I don’t give a good goddamn if Palin wants to keep the clothes that the RNC bought for her, as long as she pays for them. > > The campaign and the RNC were the ones who hastened to assure the public that all Palin’s new clothes would be sold for charity, because they were afraid that voters would be turned off by the lavishness of their spending when contrasted with Palin’s “simple hockey mom” image. And Palin’s the one who has repeatedly said that the clothes aren’t hers, they belong to the RNC. > > So no, they don’t get to shrug it off now that the campaign’s over by pretending it’s a trivial matter that nobody cares about, and I think honest Republicans should be ashamed to encourage that kind of irresponsibility and unaccountability. Right, she has said they are not her clothes they belong to the RNC. Do you have any evidence that she is keeping them? What is the big deal? That in 7 days she didn’t wrap up everything to do with the campaign perfectly? Between flying back to Alaska constant interviews, maybe attending to an agenda item or two and then flying to the Republican Governor’s convention in Florida that she should have made sure that all of this was wrapped up immediately? She says the clothes will go to the RNC to be sold to make money for Charity. What makes you so certain that this is not true? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-when-is-palin-giving-back-all-the-clothes/471457/344 "2008-11-11T22:52:46Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > Next time I will try to remember that there are those with reading comprehension issues and cannot handle colloquialisms. I’ll remember to say, “It is common for rock bands on tour to ask for socks and underwear, but not so common that this cannot be debated.” :smack: “common”? Is this more hyperbole? We go from “almost universal” to “common”, but your cites say that only “some” acts do this, and 1 cite lists only 3 acts that used the clause, which many would agree amounts to “a few”. So “almost universal”=“common”=“some”=“a few”… got it. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-when-is-palin-giving-back-all-the-clothes/471457/345 "2008-11-11T22:55:43Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > “common”? Is this more hyperbole? > > We go from “almost universal” to “common”, but your cites say that only “some” acts do this, and 1 cite lists only 3 acts that used the clause, which many would agree amounts to “a few”. > > So “almost universal”=“common”=“some”=“a few”… got it. > > :rolleyes: No I don’t ‘got it’. I’ve seen plenty of riders ask for it. I’ve given cites that I culled from Google’s first couple links on ‘rock band tour rider socks’. That is was that easy to find the info shows that it’s not uncommon. Also, the cited articles said it’s not unusual and they listed some band names to give examples. Now begone with such foolishness. This is more of your nitpicking like you did with the Sarah Palin fishing thing. You’re boring me with your pedantry. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-when-is-palin-giving-back-all-the-clothes/471457/346 "2008-11-11T22:56:32Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > She says the clothes will go to the RNC to be sold to make money for Charity. What makes you so certain that this is not true? The argument is not that she will not give the clothes back. The arguable question is, as anyone with any reading comprehension could tell you after reading the OP, **when** is Palin giving back all the clothes? And we know that she is currently in possession of them, because we have a link to a news article where her father talks about how she spent time during the weekend sorting thru them. ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-when-is-palin-giving-back-all-the-clothes/471457/347 "2008-11-11T23:32:43Z")
Can we start calling it what it is? It is not about clothes, it is about $150,000+ in campaign contributions that, depending on what is done with it, could in fact be a violation of several laws. First it was “they will be given to charity”, then it was “they will be given back to the RNC”, then it was “they were in the belly of the plane”, then it was “they were sent back with the other campaign stuff when the plane stopped in Arizona”, then it was “poor little sarah is frantically sorting clothes over the weekend”, then this morning it was “I have already given all the clothes back and why the RNC won’t corroborate this I have no idea” but yeah mswas we should just take her at her word… ---
**Author:** ![Dripping](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d2c977/32.png) [@Dripping](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dripping)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-when-is-palin-giving-back-all-the-clothes/471457/348 "2008-11-11T23:45:15Z")
Apparently she is scheduled to give a bunch of big interviews this week. Will any of them summon up the balls to ask her some hard questions about all the inconsistencies/lies that she has told about the clothes? Will anyone ask her about the silk boxers for Todd, or how they knew everyone’s clothing sizes, then insist that she answer the question, not blather off on her rehearsed talking points? ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-when-is-palin-giving-back-all-the-clothes/471457/349 "2008-11-11T23:48:18Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > The argument is not that she will not give the clothes back. The arguable question is, as anyone with any reading comprehension could tell you after reading the OP, **when** is Palin giving back all the clothes? Based on what you yourself claim her Father says, sounds like she’s doing what she needs to do to put things in order. When the auction occurs is not going to be within the first week after the campaign ends. > [@](#): > > And we know that she is currently in possession of them, because we have a link to a news article where her father talks about how she spent time during the weekend sorting thru them. Ok, so let me get this straight. After being on the campaign trail for a few months, she comes back, is inundated by reporters, has to check in at the office, and flies back out to go to a conference in Miami, and still she spends her weekend sorting through the clothes? And you still bitch that she’s not doing due dilligence? ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-when-is-palin-giving-back-all-the-clothes/471457/350 "2008-11-11T23:52:37Z")
> [@askeptic](#): > > Can we start calling it what it is? It is not about clothes, it is about $150,000+ in campaign contributions that, depending on what is done with it, could in fact be a violation of several laws. First it was “they will be given to charity”, then it was “they will be given back to the RNC”, then it was “they were in the belly of the plane”, then it was “they were sent back with the other campaign stuff when the plane stopped in Arizona”, then it was “poor little sarah is frantically sorting clothes over the weekend”, then this morning it was “I have already given all the clothes back and why the RNC won’t corroborate this I have no idea” but yeah mswas we should just take her at her word… No your ordering is all wrong. It was, “They will be given to the RNC who will auction them off for charity. They are still in the belly of the plane.”, none of those things are in any way mutually exclusive or inconsistent. She claimed they were in the belly of the plane when reporters assaulted her the moment she got back to Alaska, which happened to be when this thread started. You all need to take a deep breath and recognize that the election was a week ago today. If you don’t think it’s ok that someone is confused about where everything is after a time like this, then you’ve clearly led a very boring life and have never had any succession of events that made it difficult to keep track of clothes. Hell every time I travel my wife and I end up mixing our clothes up in our bags and by the 5th or 6th day I can’t find anything. This is without reporters dogging my every move. Again this is just prurient hate. You loved hating Sarah Palin, you know she’s going to be a leader of the Republican party from here on out, so you are laying the ground for a perpetual hate-a-thon. Oh, and I stated on this board many times that I voted for Barack Obama. All this is to me is evidence that having 24/7 access to the news cycle is quite problematic. ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2008, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-when-is-palin-giving-back-all-the-clothes/471457/351 "2008-11-12T00:01:05Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > Again this is just prurient hate. You loved hating Sarah Palin, you know she’s going to be a leader of the Republican party from here on out, so you are laying the ground for a perpetual hate-a-thon. I would like nothing more than to see Palin get the nomination for 2012. Sadly, I don’t think the money men of the republican party are that stupid. ---
**Author:** ![sinjin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@sinjin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sinjin)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2008, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-when-is-palin-giving-back-all-the-clothes/471457/352 "2008-11-12T00:11:56Z")
So mswas your basic defense of Barbie is that she is emulating ‘rock stars’ and their contract demands. Did someone separate the m & m’s by color for her too, only the reds please? Cool got it. Now explain to me again who was the ‘celebrity’ during the past election? You’re actually suggesting that buying cloths for a baby and a ‘baby daddy’ who is not even related to the candidate’s family yet except as a sperm donor are legitimate and common campaign expenses? You’re comparing a $400 dollar hair cut to almost $200,000 in swag. Yeesh, no wonder we’re in the dumper. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2008, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-when-is-palin-giving-back-all-the-clothes/471457/353 "2008-11-12T00:13:19Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > Based on what you yourself claim her Father says, sounds like she’s doing what she needs to do to put things in order. When the auction occurs is not going to be within the first week after the campaign ends. I did not “claim” her father said anything. It’s in the news article linked in **Squink** ’s [post #266](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=10430339&postcount=266). PLEASE STOP MISCHARACTERIZING AND MISQUOTING WHAT I SAY. > [@](#): > > Ok, so let me get this straight. After being on the campaign trail for a few months, she comes back, is inundated by reporters, has to check in at the office, and flies back out to go to a conference in Miami, and still she spends her weekend sorting through the clothes? > > And you still bitch that she’s not doing due dilligence? I did not “bitch that she’s not doing due dilligence”. I’m just asking, as did the OP, **when** is Palin giving back all the clothes? ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2008, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-when-is-palin-giving-back-all-the-clothes/471457/354 "2008-11-12T00:29:44Z")
Anyone want to slog through The Smoking Gun’s [archive](http://www.thesmokinggun.com/backstagetour/index.html) of riders to get an idea of how “universal” or “common” or “not unusual” sox-N-boxers riders are? And is it really furthering her cause to suggest that it’s a non-issue because rock stars do it? I’m sure rock stars do _lots_ of things on the road to ease the stress and loneliness, to adapt to time pressures, and to compensate themselves for lost time — things that wouldn’t be becoming on a VP candidate. Would it help to compare the number of staff/resources she had compared to the average rock band? Or even superstar rock bands? And is it really furthering her cause to suggest that she was so incompetent an organizer that she couldn’t manage to have week 1’s laundry shipped ahead/be ready to travel while everyone is wearing week 2’s skivvies? And is it really furthering her cause to suggest that, similar to her unawareness of the Bush Doctrine as a concept (forget about specifics), she had no idea she was living in a post-$400 haircut world? And is it really furthering her cause to suggest that if she had every intention to give back every skid-marked pair of underwear when it was all over, she is so incompetent that she couldn’t keep track of things? If someone handed her a laptop to write a speech on, did it get lost as well? And is it really furthering her cause to maintain the electorally failed line of attack, the “why won’t anyone ask them … there’s probably something there” whispering campaign? Granted, the Obamettes may well have spent a similar amount on clothes, but to suggest that no one has looked is ridiculous. After all, it’s the right that made the big deal out of the haircut. Between per diems, family travel, etc., and this there’s a larger pattern of taking advantage of/gaming the system. She’s being rightly pilloried, and attempts to whitewash it/revise the story for the next wave of elections should be met with derision. So, when _is_ Palin giving back all those clothes? ---
**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:** [November 12, 2008, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-when-is-palin-giving-back-all-the-clothes/471457/355 "2008-11-12T00:43:51Z")
I don’t know, but it is a good question. Does this seem like RO to you? As with the baby-mommy story, this one has such a quick fix to it: give back the clothes, and the story goes away. But no. We get a lot of defensive, outraged contradictory self-justifying crap from her, but not the clothes. Does she not have a few staffers to tag the stuff, box it up and send it back wherever, properly insured? I think she thinks there’s political mileage in being poor picked-on Sarah from East Methlab–she’s going for the victim vote, I think. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2008, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-when-is-palin-giving-back-all-the-clothes/471457/356 "2008-11-12T01:02:27Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > I don’t know, but it is a good question. > > Does this seem like RO to you? As with the baby-mommy story, this one has such a quick fix to it: give back the clothes, and the story goes away. But no. We get a lot of defensive, outraged contradictory self-justifying crap from her, but not the clothes. Does she not have a few staffers to tag the stuff, box it up and send it back wherever, properly insured? I think she thinks there’s political mileage in being poor picked-on Sarah from East Methlab–she’s going for the victim vote, I think. I think it’s been 7 days, and people are a bunch of big babies who don’t really realize that the news cycle isn’t a scripted television show, so they expect immediate results even if their time frame is entirely unrealistic. Just because she hasn’t solved the problem in the past few days doesn’t mean it won’t get resolved. It’s just entitlement. **Rhythmdvl** I wasn’t saying that the expenditures weren’t silly. Just that it occurs pretty regularly in campaigns and the bottom line is that mostly it’s political backbiting. If this were your candidate and he won you wouldn’t be talking about it at all. We expect our candidates to be mediagenic then we complain about the necessary expenditures it requires to make that happen. Sarah Palin was thrust into the spotlight suddenly and she went nuts on her shopping spree. I feel like we’re in a swirling miasma of being way too plugged in to see it clearly. I’ve heard stories of clothes bought that didn’t fit and were not returned, of staffers who might have bought stuff and claimed it was Palin. Who knows who is lying here? Of course those who hate Palin are going to immediately assume the worst case scenario with her. It’s Schadenfreude at its finest. Hopefully she’ll keep ignoring questions about it right now and sometime next month we’ll hear about an auction. Hell they should just put them up on ebay and be done with it. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2008, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-when-is-palin-giving-back-all-the-clothes/471457/357 "2008-11-12T01:49:14Z")
Excuse me? If this were a Democrat, ANY Democrat, who spent that much money on clothes and havered about returning them etc–and outfitted their family, I’d have plenty to say about it. Obama didn’t charge the campaign any money for clothes–and I doubt McCain did, either. I don’t care that Cindy McCain has more bling than a rap star–it’s hers. This isn’t political backbiting–it looks very much like Palin tried to grab some high end clothes for her “entourage” and got caught. Oops–her bad. If I were a Republican donator, I’d be pissed off right now. What a waste of money-after the first say, $3000 (and I’m being generous). Her family belonged IN SCHOOL–like the Obama kids were. Isn’t the plane needed elsewhere? I thought every minute on the ground was money lost. Why are the clothes still “in the belly of the plane”? She must have brought clothes with her to the campaign/convention. Why not fly home in those, and leave the other clothes behind? Let an RNC person handle these clothes that aren’t hers. Palin (apparently) doesn’t know how to make a small story just go away-she could have handled this openly and completely. Instead we have this nonsense. I hope the press dogs her about her until those clothes are auctioned. She can consider it some on the job training for her future national political career. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2008, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-when-is-palin-giving-back-all-the-clothes/471457/358 "2008-11-12T01:52:21Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > Isn’t the plane needed elsewhere? I thought every minute on the ground was money lost. Why are the clothes still “in the belly of the plane”? They’re not. People are referring to a comment she made last week when she had just barely landed. > [@](#): > > She must have brought clothes with her to the campaign/convention. Why not fly home in those, and leave the other clothes behind? Let an RNC person handle these clothes that aren’t hers. The RNC person has to know what’s hers and what isn’t. Do you want some guy going through your underwear drawer and sorting them? > [@](#): > > Obama didn’t charge the campaign any money for clothes–and I doubt McCain did, either. Are you certain? > [@](#): > > Palin (apparently) doesn’t know how to make a small story just go away-she could have handled this openly and completely. Instead we have this nonsense. I hope the press dogs her about her until those clothes are auctioned. She can consider it some on the job training for her future national political career. I don’t see that she didn’t handle it openly. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2008, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-when-is-palin-giving-back-all-the-clothes/471457/359 "2008-11-12T02:01:38Z")
[Sarah Palin’s clothes and makeup cost an absolute fortune](http://current.com/items/89438307/sarah_palin_s_new_clothes_and_makeup_cost_an_absolute_fortune.htm) The point about designers giving candidates clothes for free is apt. The problem here is that they probably spent a lot of money on this stuff because it was so short notice. If they’d been able to coordinate with designers then this wouldn’t even be an issue. Of course Palin is taking the flak for John McCain’s piss poor leadership. If there was preparation, she could’ve gotten the same clothes for free. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2008, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-when-is-palin-giving-back-all-the-clothes/471457/360 "2008-11-12T02:12:20Z")
> [@JThunder](#): > > You posted a link, but not her exact words. **Tenebras** did post her exact words, and they say nothing about God promising to place her in the White House, much less declaring that she is God’s chosen leader of the free world. > > Methinks some people are WAY too eager to heap derision based on imagined statements. She made it clear that she took the shot at VP because god opened a door for her. She implied that she was waiting for god to open the next door. What door would that be ,mayor of Wasilla. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-when-is-palin-giving-back-all-the-clothes/471457.md?page=17) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-when-is-palin-giving-back-all-the-clothes/471457.md?page=19)