RNC spends $180K on Palin and family

12/6/08

RNC spends $180K on Palin and family

Jeanne Cummings

In this Dec. 1, 2008 file photo, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, center, waves to a AP – In this Dec. 1, 2008 file photo, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, center, waves to a crowd during a campaign …

Salons and spas, including $350 at Escape Skin Care and Day Spa in New York, were the latest unusual expenses to appear in the Republican National Committee’s coordinated expenses account with the McCain-Palin campaign, according to November reports released late Thursday.

Overall, the RNC has reported spending a total of about $180,000 for clothes and various accessories for the family of vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, Federal Election Commission records show.

As Politico first reported in October, the bulk of that spending, about $150,000, was spent in early September on clothes for the Alaska governor and her family.

The RNC’s post-Election Day report documented another $30,000 at outlets that read like a suburban shopping directory.

Dick’s Sporting Goods, The Limited, Foot Locker, Wal-Mart, Toys R Us and Victoria’s Secret are all listed in between the expected payments for media buys, direct mail and polling.

Major payments to big department stores and boutique clothing outlets also continued. Thousands of dollars in payments to Macy’s, Nieman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue — all major recipients of RNC cash in early September as Palin upgraded her wardrobe for the campaign — were made in October, too.

In addition, hundreds of dollars were also spent at Brooks Brothers, the Gap, Express and J.C. Penney on clothes and accessories, apparently for other members of the vice presidential nominee’s family.

Republican donors reacted with anger when news of the spending broke in October. Typically, such coordinated campaign accounts are used to supplement a party nominee’s advertising and voter turnout operations.

The November report, which is the first post-election accounting, shows that the RNC spent heavily — more than $19 million — on both of those political activities from its coordinated expenses account. The party also spent more than $34 million on independent expenditures in the final weeks of the campaign to help nominee John McCain's presidential bid.

As for the clothes, RNC spokesman Alex Conant said: "The accessories have been returned, inventoried and will be appropriately dispersed to various charities."