In the 2008 Battle for the White House, the Skirmish of Neiman-Marcus might turn out to be the silliest engagment of all.
By now, every sentient being in the Western world knows that the McCain campaign spent $150,000 on clothing for Sarah Palin and her family in the weeks following her selection as John McCain's running mate.
I don't agree that all the coverage of Saks-gate has been wontonly sexist. The Republicans are not going to put their candidate out on the campaign trail in a Wasilla Warriors sweatshirt with baby spit-up on the shoulder and jeans blown out at the knees for the same reasone the Democrats are not going to send their candidate out on the stump wearing a wifebeater and baggy pants -- it's not the image they want to convey.
The whole idea is for candidates to look as bland as possible. Does Barack Obama's endless supply of light blue shirts and murky ties make you rethink your wardrobe? Does John McCain wear a French cuff? Did Biden wear a stripped tie or a solid one at the debate? Until the price tag became known, there was virtually no discussion of Palin's wardrobe. Like the Clinton Pantsuit, it was nothing more than a uniform -- age-appropriate and non-threatening, spun out in an endless array of fairly neutral colors.
Where it does edge into sexism is when we start talking about Palin's shopping "spree," or how the campaign turned "Cariboo Barbie" into "Valentino Barbie," as Maureen Dowd put it in a recent editorial. It reinforces the myth of women as profligrate spenders, clothes-horses, shoe-whores, and yes, Barbie dolls.
The reality is, Palin was plucked out of near-obscurity and put on a the campaign trail with a few hours' notice. Personal shoppers were dispatched. Clothing was brought to her, stripped of price tags, and she picked out what she wanted. It's not like she walked into Macy's with a retinue of stylists, waved a Gold Card in the manager's face, and ordered them to shut the place down until she tried on evey pair of Manolo Blahniks in the joint.
Ah, but it's still rank hypocracy! you say. She's appealing to the Wal-Mart crowd in designer duds! Typical Republicans: spending money on something as frivolous as clothing in the middle of an economic crisis. It's obscene.
Well, there are a bunch of obscenities here. It's obscene that simply putting putting a designer's name on an article of clothing makes it "worth" hundreds or thousands of dollars. It's obscene that most of us walk around every day dressed in clothing that was made in some Third World sweatshop where women and children toil in dangerous conditions for a pittence of a wage.
Most of all, it's obscene that -- in a time of economic crisis -- these two campaigns are spending over $30 million a week in their bid for the White House. That's 200 TIMES Palin's wardrobe expenditure spent EACH WEEK. In the last filing period, the Obama campaign spent $188 million on media. The McCain campaign spent $77 million. So which is more obsence: $265 million on advertising, or $150,000 on clothing?
At least a nice suit serves some useful purpose when the campaign is done.
By now, every sentient being in the Western world knows that the McCain campaign spent $150,000 on clothing for Sarah Palin and her family in the weeks following her selection as John McCain's running mate.
I don't agree that all the coverage of Saks-gate has been wontonly sexist. The Republicans are not going to put their candidate out on the campaign trail in a Wasilla Warriors sweatshirt with baby spit-up on the shoulder and jeans blown out at the knees for the same reasone the Democrats are not going to send their candidate out on the stump wearing a wifebeater and baggy pants -- it's not the image they want to convey.
The whole idea is for candidates to look as bland as possible. Does Barack Obama's endless supply of light blue shirts and murky ties make you rethink your wardrobe? Does John McCain wear a French cuff? Did Biden wear a stripped tie or a solid one at the debate? Until the price tag became known, there was virtually no discussion of Palin's wardrobe. Like the Clinton Pantsuit, it was nothing more than a uniform -- age-appropriate and non-threatening, spun out in an endless array of fairly neutral colors.
Where it does edge into sexism is when we start talking about Palin's shopping "spree," or how the campaign turned "Cariboo Barbie" into "Valentino Barbie," as Maureen Dowd put it in a recent editorial. It reinforces the myth of women as profligrate spenders, clothes-horses, shoe-whores, and yes, Barbie dolls.
The reality is, Palin was plucked out of near-obscurity and put on a the campaign trail with a few hours' notice. Personal shoppers were dispatched. Clothing was brought to her, stripped of price tags, and she picked out what she wanted. It's not like she walked into Macy's with a retinue of stylists, waved a Gold Card in the manager's face, and ordered them to shut the place down until she tried on evey pair of Manolo Blahniks in the joint.
Ah, but it's still rank hypocracy! you say. She's appealing to the Wal-Mart crowd in designer duds! Typical Republicans: spending money on something as frivolous as clothing in the middle of an economic crisis. It's obscene.
Well, there are a bunch of obscenities here. It's obscene that simply putting putting a designer's name on an article of clothing makes it "worth" hundreds or thousands of dollars. It's obscene that most of us walk around every day dressed in clothing that was made in some Third World sweatshop where women and children toil in dangerous conditions for a pittence of a wage.
Most of all, it's obscene that -- in a time of economic crisis -- these two campaigns are spending over $30 million a week in their bid for the White House. That's 200 TIMES Palin's wardrobe expenditure spent EACH WEEK. In the last filing period, the Obama campaign spent $188 million on media. The McCain campaign spent $77 million. So which is more obsence: $265 million on advertising, or $150,000 on clothing?
At least a nice suit serves some useful purpose when the campaign is done.
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Max Rivlin-Nadler
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Salon.com
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