You know a scandal has metastasized into a cultural event when your lame denials end up as a front-page, above-the-fold quotation in a major newspaper. The Chicago Tribune scored an interview with Palin, and while the bulk of it actually talked about her "policy portfolio" of special-needs children, they did talk about wardrobe-gate, and of course that became the lead headline.
The full interview transcript can be found here, but I'm just going to quote from the actual news story, as that's what's going to be emailed around en masse:
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin insisted in an interview with the Tribune on Thursday that she did not accept $150,000 worth of designer clothes from the Republican Party and "that is not who we are."
"That whole thing is just, bad!" she said. "Oh, if people only knew how frugal we are.
"It's kind of painful to be criticized for something when all the facts are not out there and are not reported," said Palin, saying the clothes are not worth $150,000 and were bought for the Republican National Convention. Still, she has been wearing pricey clothes at campaign events this fall. She said they will be given back, auctioned off or sent to charity. Most of them, she said, haven't even left the belly of her campaign plane.
So, her defense is that expensive clothing was bought and then not used. That's nice, Governor. Most people, if they'd been given a $150,000 shopping spree, would at least wear all the fancy stuff that they just bought. It also raises the question of if the clothing wasn't worth $150K, where did all of the money go? It was spent, but by who and on what?
Her role in dragging down the ticket:
But polls suggest that McCain is in trouble, partly because of Palin, who has been criticized as lacking the experience to become president. This week's NBC/Wall Street Journal poll suggested more people now think that Palin is hurting McCain's chances of becoming president than President George W. Bush, whose national approval ratings are in the 20s.
Palin disputed such conclusions.
"I think that those reporters asking those questions should come to some of our rallies and ask some of those in the crowd why it is they are enthused," she said, adding that the crowds see her as representing "hardworking, everyday American families."
She excited the GOP base. I don't think anyone would dispute that. What the Governor doesn't seem to want to admit is that the GOP base is maybe 25% of the country, 35% at the absolute largest. You don't win an election by winning the hearts and minds of 35%, and causing the remaining 65% to run screaming in the opposite direction, towards that nice guy from the midwest with the funny name.
As far as her "big policy speech" today, we have this:
In her speech Friday, Palin will lay out the campaign's plans to fully fund the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, boost funding for special-needs children from birth to age 3 and allow parents to choose whether federal money for their child is used in a public, private, religious or secular school without navigating a cumbersome administrative process.
[...]
"It's not all about the money, it's not all about budgets," Palin said, adding vaguely that the money could come from "re-prioritizing" the budget. "It's about that spirit of acceptance and embracing that diversity that is in the world with children who are special, a little bit different from the norm."
I like that "added vaguely". Sort of captures the GOP policy-making system in a nutshell, doesn't it? I have the feeling that Governor Palin's big policy speech isn't going to change too many minds about her qualifications, or lack thereof, for the job that she's running for.
-dms