Clothing Distractions

The Governor's wardrobe has now become an issue of sexism, in Republican circles. I don't give a damn if she likes to wear jeans, pants suits, dresses, or whatever. Here's the real deal about the clothes, it is about the Republican campaign and their thinking, not what the woman looks like. Her taste in clothing is whatever it is, but the issue of appearance on a campaign trail doesn't mean $150,000 clothing. The reality is that the cameras, the audience, the hand shakers don't see the things that make a difference between those clothes and the knock-offs in other stores. That level of clothing is meaningless except amongst those who do wear it regularly.

This is where the argument really is, not about some woman's clothing. This is how the RNC sees the world and the country, spending fortunes meaninglessly on their type is a good thing. It is trickle down economics made simple. The plain folks benefit by the rich and influential getting more and more. It never seems to occur to them that the question is where that more and more comes from. I don't have a lot of sympathy for RNC contributors seeing their money wasted, this is their agenda, but the blindness that leads to this kind of junk is an issue.

This clothing is a stage prop, nothing more - unless Sarah plans to keep it, somehow. The RNC has real electoral problems and candidates whose campaigns might benefit from a chunk of $150,000. They're down the food chain, like most Americans, and thus dispensable. There is such a thing as coat tails but the only use that clothing has is within the social circles of elites. Not the phony elite of thoughtful well rounded people, the elite of those who can afford to toss money at that kind of clothing. You have to remember that Sarah is pallin' around with a guy who wears $560 loafers. Give me a break, I wear $360 custom built 12 inch logging boots because I spend huge amounts of time on my feet in treacherous difficult conditions and damage to them means I go broke - and they will get re-built. At $560 those shoes have nothing to do with practical considerations and everything to do with status. You buy those shoes because you can.

I don't care what kind of clothing Cindy McCain wears, but it may bear on the selection of Sarah's clothing. Cindy McCain lives in that elite of moneyed interests who can spend that kind of money and not notice and those two will spend time together. Sarah and her family must be dressed to that level if they're going to hang with those folks. Whether Sarah Palin was a part of the idea to do this or not is immaterial, the fact is that the idea existed and she went along quite willingly. Blindness to the outcomes of wealth coddling policies is exemplified by this stuff.

Sex has nothing to do with this unless you take the Republican tack that she needed clothes. How does this thinking go? A woman needs $150,000 worth of clothing because...she's a woman? In order for a woman to be a credible candidate for VP or any office she has to have clothing of that level? I am married and I do understand that women's clothing costs more than men's, but holy mackerel, nobody thinks it involves this kind of level. What is it that they think they're appealing to?

I like nice looking buildings and I am in favor of some ornamentation, but hanging all the geegaws in the world on an outhouse doesn't make it something else. Sarah Palin is what she is whether she's wearing jeans or the most upscale designer clothing. The idea that it is reasonable to use resources like this is telling. People complain to me that they have to buy Obama yard signs rather than have them handed out. Yard signs make for a sense of community but do not drive votes, advertising, speaking, publishing, ground troops make for votes. The usual vanity of having more signs out than the opposition isn't of import to that campaign - real results are. The contrast in judgement couldn't be more stark.

It isn't about whether I could afford these clothes. It is about philosophy and judgement and the use of available resources. The one thing that a Presidential campaign shows, for absolutely sure, is the level of competence and judgement and philosophy of the candidate's team. All the campaign promises to the side, that is reality. Extend that to actual governance where the decisions made aren't of the miniscule effect of some woman's dresses and what is it you get?

The McCain team?