McCain's campaign defends Palin's fashion expenses

Source: Xinhua  |   2008-10-25  |     ONLINE EDITION

US Republican presidential candidate John McCain's campaign defended vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's fashion expenses that has grabbed public and media attention with only days before the election day.

The wardrobe controversy was expanded with a report saying Palin's stylist, Amy Strozzi, was paid US$22,800 for the first two weeks in October, while McCain's foreign policy adviser, Randy Scheunemann, was paid only US$12,500 during the same period.

An earlier report disclosed that the Republican National Committee has spent US$150,000 of political donation to cover Palin's expense on clothing, makeup and other fashion needs.

Despite the repeated clarification that the purchased clothes would go to charity after campaign, the news stories still incited public furor as the country was caught in a worst economic crisis since 1930s.

The McCain campaign broke its silence on the matter and provided some details to media yesterday, saying Palin "did not ask for or want any new clothes."

"About a third of them have been returned, a third of them sit in the belly of the plane and are available to her and her family for special campaign events, TV appearances and ad filming," said McCain's senior adviser Nicolle Wallace. "Another third was made available to her family for the public events during convention week."

Wallace also criticized the media storm about the wardrobe controversy as a terrible disservice to her and involved a "double-standard for women in politics."

"That any aspect of her shoes, clothes or appearance has become a distraction is a terrible commentary on the state of the media and politics," she said. "Let's get on with our great debate about the best direction for the country in these challenging times for our economy and our nation's security."

Palin, the Alaska governor, also defended herself in a Thursday night TV interview, saying "those clothes are not my property."