Both about Sarah Palin’s wardrobe.
“Isn’t this the best $150,000 the RNC has spent the entire cycle?”
– Unidentified McCain aide
“I don’t want to tell them how to do their business, but I would have picked a week of TV somewhere.”
– Unidentified Democratic operative
U.S. News and World Report got a hold of an internal “death list” of House GOP members who are expected to lose re-election. Not a good sign.
Voter displeasure with the war and economy, coupled with Sen. Barack Obama’s popularity, has the House GOP running for cover. Even though polls have shown that Americans don’t like congressional Democrats any more, a new internal GOP tally of House races suggests a Democratic route that could keep the Republicans in the minority for decades. A document provided to Washington Whispers from a House GOP official shows that they could lose a net 34 seats. That means the Democrats would have a 270-165 advantage in the 111th Congress. In the Senate, Republicans expect to lose also but to keep up to 44 seats, ensuring their ability to stage a filibuster.
The document provided to Whispers is no gag: It comes from one of the key House GOP vote counters. The source called it a “death list.” The tally shows several different ratings of 66 House Republicans in difficult races or open seats held by retiring Republicans.
That’s what Sam Stein is hearing.
Five days after Rep. Michele Bachmann went on a McCarthy-esque rant suggesting Barack Obama was unpatriotic and urging the major newspapers of the country to investigate anti-American sentiment in Congress, the national Republican political parties are running for cover.
Two sources aware of ad buys in Minnesota say that the National Republican Congressional Committee is pulling its media purchases from Bachmann’s race. If true, it is a remarkable fall for a congresswoman who, until recently, seemed relatively safe in her predominantly conservative district. The race had become closer in recent days — the NRCC had transferred funds from Rep. Erik Paulsen (MN-03) to Bachmann a little over a week ago.
A few observers are calling it the Macaca Incident of 2008. If Bachmann loses what was previously a safe seat over this, it will be a truly epic meltdown.
Update: TPM Election Central confirms that the NRCC is pulling its funding for Bachmann. She really is that radioactive within the House GOP as a result of this mess.
Update II: The Republican base is not happy with the NRCC’s decision about this.
The Washington Post has an interesting investigative story on what I didn’t realize was a cottage industry in Washington: commissioning artists to paint portraits of senior government officials using taxpayer money.
Sam Stein at the Huffington Post:
If Edwards had gotten one of his legendary haircuts every singe week, it would still take him 7.2 years to spend what Palin has spent. Palin has received the equivalent of $2,500 in clothes per day from places such as Saks Fifth Avenue (where RNC expenditures totaled nearly $50,000) and Neiman Marcus (where the governor had a $75,000 spree).
…
Indeed, the story could not come at a more inopportune time for the McCain campaign. During a week in which the Republican ticket is trying to highlight its connection to the working class — and, by extension, promoting its newest campaign tool, Joe the Plumber — it was revealed that Palin’s fashion budget for several weeks was more than four times the median salary of an American plumber ($37,514). To put it another way: Palin received more valuable clothes in one month than the average American household spends on clothes in 80 years. A Democrat put it in even blunter terms: her clothes were the cost of health care for 15 or so people.
Update: Marc Ambinder:
That’s one good week of television time in Colorado.
The New York Times Magazine is publishing a story on Sunday chronicling the behind-the-scenes drama and the ever-changing narratives in the McCain campaign. Given that the campaign has essentially declared war on the Times at the most senior levels on multiple occasions, expect a similar response when this story runs. Politico has excerpts.
Remember how much fun Republicans had tarring and feathering John Edwards with this?
If that was fair game (I thought at the time – and still do – that it was quite silly) then Sarah Palin and the Republican National Committee just handed the Democrats a whole caseload of ammunition.
The Republican National Committee has spent more than $150,000 to clothe and accessorize vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and her family since her surprise pick by John McCain in late August.
According to financial disclosure records, the accessorizing began in early September and included bills from Saks Fifth Avenue in St. Louis and New York for a combined $49,425.74.
The records also document a couple of big-time shopping trips to Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis, including one $75,062.63 spree in early September.
The RNC also spent $4,716.49 on hair and makeup through September after reporting no such costs in August.
The cash expenditures immediately raised questions among campaign finance experts about their legality under the Federal Election Commission’s long-standing advisory opinions on using campaign cash to purchase items for personal use.
Politico asked the McCain campaign for comment, explicitly noting the $150,000 in expenses for department store shopping and makeup consultation that were incurred immediately after Palin’s announcement. Pre-September reports do not include similar costs.
Somehow, I think a six-figure shopping spree for a personal makeover is not what Republican donors had in mind when they wrote out their checks. Expect the Democrats and the late night comedians to pounce on this.
Update: Marc Ambinder quotes Republicans, GOP donors and an RNC staffer who are disgusted with the expenditures, although not surprisingly all of them are on background.
Following up on his brother and his advisor dissing Northern Virginia, McCain may well have walked into a similar trap in Pennsylvania. Marc Ambinder:
Referring to Rep. Jack Murtha’s remarks on the region’s alleged racism, McCain said: “I think you may have noticed that Sen. Obama’s supporters are saying some pretty nasty things about Western Pennsylvania lately.”
McCain: “And you know, I couldn’t agree with them more.”
“I couldn’t disagree with you.”
“I couldn’t agree with you more than the fact that Western Pennsylvania is the most patriotic, most God-loving, most patriotic part of America… this is a great part of the country.”
Forget about McCain blowing the line…
MOST patriotic?
MOST God-loving?
He may as well write off Pittsburgh and Philadelphia at this point and hope he can make up the difference in the rest of the state, although polls show him trailing Obama. Not a smart thing for a candidate to say in any state, but especially so in the one on which your entire election strategy is dependent on.
Update: Forgot to note that Sarah Palin ran into some trouble with her “Pro-America” comment at a recent event. She apologized for it during a recent interview with CNN.
Icepicks and Nukes 