I was reading Newsweek (which I proudly have a free subscription to just because I'm a "High Fidelity"-level donor to Chicago Public Radio) in bed last night and came across the article "Not the Change They Wanted."
Now, I'm as fed up with talking about the cost of Sarah Palin's "military couture meets Jackie O. elbow sleeve" wardrobe as I'm sure you are. She spent more money on clothes than many families' total pre-tax annual household income. But I was curious why the RNC ended up footing the bill, a fact that Newsweek reports many Republican donors are up in arms about (the money, in their view, could've been better spent keeping candidates like Libby Dole and Michelle Bachmann in their seats instead of decorating the sinking ship HMS You Betcha).
The RNC and McCain campaign actually have John McCain to thank for this one.
The good old days?
You see, back when McCain really was being all "Mavericky" and Sarah Palin was safely tucked away in Wasilla being all "small towny," John McCain co-sponsored landmark legislation with one of the most liberal members of the Senate, Democrat Russ Feingold of Wisconsin. This was the McCain-Feingold Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002. (What's totally ironic is that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who opposed the bill in 2002, really could've benefitted from the $150K; it looks like he may be ousted on Nov. 4).
Newsweek quotes a McCain staffer discussing the state of Palin's pre-Neiman wardrobe:
"Campaign aides quickly concluded that [Palin] lacked the necessary wardrobe for two months of intensive national campaigning. 'She didn't have the fancy pantsuits that Hillary Clinton has,' explained one staffer (who, like most others interviewed for this account, declined to be identified speaking about the episode)."
Can I wear this to reform Washington? Nope?
As Newsweek reported:
"The problem was figuring out how to pay for new dresswear: the 2002 McCain-Feingold law, co-authored by the GOP candidate, tightened the rules to ban using campaign funds for personal clothing."
Indeed, the McCain-Feingold Act includes the following on clothing:
"For example, the statute now prohibits the use of campaign contributions for ‘a clothing purchase’ (2 U.S.C. 439a(b)(2)(B)); whereas the pre-BCRA corresponding regulation at 11 CFR 113.1(g)(1)(i)(C) prohibited the personal use of ‘‘[c]lothing, other than items of de minimis value that are used in the campaign, such as campaign ‘T-shirts’ or caps with campaign slogans."
When the McCain campaign hit that bump, they conveniently found a way around it.
"While Jeff Larson, a veteran GOP consultant who headed the party's "host" committee, provided his credit card for the Palin family shopping spree, he was directed to send the bills over to the Republican National Committee (which was not covered by the clothing ban in McCain-Feingold). RNC officials were not happy about it. "We were explicitly directed by the campaign to pay these costs," said one senior RNC official who also requested anonymity. After at first declining to comment, a McCain spokeswoman said the clothes would be donated to charity after the campaign was over."
So the McCain campaign, when confronted with a dilemma because of legislation that McCain touts as one of his great achievements in "Warshington", simply directs their party to foot the bill. What's more Mavericky than finding loopholes in your own legislation?