Palin Pays Stylist: $22,800; Policy Aide: $12,500

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is a "serious" candidate.

She's about substance, not style. And to suggest otherwise, she will tell you, is unfair.

So, surely, there is some good explanation for the report that the Republican vice presidential candidate's stylist is being paid more than her foreign-policy adviser.

Amy Strozzi, a top celebrity stylist who has worked with the reality show "So You Think You Can Dance," began traveling with Palin in September. According to the McCain-Palin campaign's latest financial report, Strozzi has collected $22,800.

The McCain-Palin campaign's foreign policy adviser, Randy Scheunemann, who was called in to brief Palin before her various interviews with television news anchors and for the vice presidential debate, was paid $12,500 during the same reporting period.

The McCain camp suggests that some of Strozzi's money is back-pay for earlier work. But she is certainly holding her own against the campaign's top foreign-policy guy.

And perhaps rightly so.

The campaign's "I-can-see-Russia-from-my-house" strategy for establishing Palin's foreign-policy credentials has not been nearly so successful as her $150,000 makeover.

Comments (22)

1. OK. Enough. This is as ridiculous as it was when it was $400 haircuts.

   Posted by Hman23 at 10/24/2008 @ 4:52pm

2. "The campaign's "I-can-see-Russia-from-my-house" strategy for establishing Palin's foreign-policy credentials has not been nearly so successful as her $150,000 makeover."

   Saw on the tv today where Vegas stripers are adopting Sarah Palin fantasy outfits for their patrons with much enthusiasm. Gosh....the Repubs have a sinister plot to make us all the fantasy sex slaves of Palin. Just don't watch guys! Don't look into her eyes.....

   What a zoo!

   Posted by OneVote at 10/24/2008 @ 5:31pm

3. i wonder if she paid for a tangled-web weave.....

   Posted by frosty zoom at 10/24/2008 @ 6:17pm

4. No it's not enough. When she tries to pass herself off as a hockey-mom or a WalMart mom and goes to these extremes it is fair game. Her wardrobe was the house I lost, her hair is half of my SSI income. Where does it end?

   Posted by ThePixman at 10/24/2008 @ 6:36pm

5. No it's not enough. When she tries to pass herself off as a hockey-mom or a WalMart mom and goes to these extremes it is fair game. Her wardrobe was the house I lost, her hair is half of my SSI income. Where does it end?

   Posted by ThePixman at 10/24/2008 @ 6:36pm

   Pixman, Governor Palin isn't responsible for your financial woes. I'm sorry you lost your home and your SSI income is in the toilet.

   Posted by ACook at 10/24/2008 @ 8:11pm

6. OK. Enough. This is as ridiculous as it was when it was $400 haircuts.

   Posted by Hman23 at 10/24/2008 @ 4:52pm |

   You are absolutely right. I keep forgetting JN has OCD when it comes to stories like this. It's something about the repetitions that seems to soothe him.

   Posted by ACook at 10/24/2008 @ 8:43pm

7. sarah is really getten dogged these days she had it coming she never should have stepped out of her safety zone up north. i sort of pity her naivity.

   Posted by reality check at 10/24/2008 @ 9:19pm

8. The stylist & foreign policy adviser are interchangeable. One says new comb & the other newkem. Mix & match.

   Posted by Sorelish at 10/24/2008 @ 10:06pm

9. sarah is really getten dogged these days she had it coming she never should have stepped out of her safety zone up north. i sort of pity her naivity.

   Posted by reality check at 10/24/2008 @ 9:19pm

   No doubt.

   I feel bad that the McCain campaign has seemingly set this woman up to take such a massive hit.

   Do these people not think things like this through?

   Posted by TexasFlood at 10/24/2008 @ 11:10pm

10. Although the issue of her wardrobe would be NO BIG DEAL if she had not been posing as a populist, or as a small town hockey mom.

    Posted by TexasFlood at 10/24/2008 @ 11:25pm

11. Although the issue of her wardrobe would be NO BIG DEAL if she had not been posing as a populist, or as a small town hockey mom.

    Posted by TexasFlood at 10/24/2008 @ 11:25pm

    Her clothes, hair and makeup have absolutely nothing to do with her espousing populist views. This is all about the media getting back at her because she's not interested in placating them. Which is why I don't blame her.

    Posted by ACook at 10/24/2008 @ 11:38pm

12. Great GOP sideshow, the McC/Palin act ...

    ... while the main events work out quietly, largely unobserved, mainly unreported, on Wall St, as hundreds of billions steadily flow from the public coffers into private hands, almost no strings attached.

    Lend it back to us, so we can go to work? Ha.

    No, buy more banks with it, fire people, consolidate ... all with cheap public billions.

    Spend it on yourselves, fellas, because the public is powerless to stop you -- that's Paulson's message to his cronies.

    To confirm, check:

    www.nytimes.com/2008/10/25/business/25nocera.html?8dpc

    That's what's really happening, not the McC/Palin freak show.

    Posted by sloper at 10/25/2008 @ 12:20am

13. Although the issue of her wardrobe would be NO BIG DEAL if she had not been posing as a populist, or as a small town hockey mom.

    Posted by TexasFlood at 10/24/2008 @ 11:25pm

    Her clothes, hair and makeup have absolutely nothing to do with her espousing populist views. This is all about the media getting back at her because she's not interested in placating them. Which is why I don't blame her.

    Posted by ACook at 10/24/2008 @ 11:38pm

    Explain that to me please.

    Tell me how one can shout populist rhetoric while maintaining a lifestyle only a very tiny fraction of this country has the luxury to experience.

    The big bad boogey man of the media.

    So...the media made her buy expensive clothes and then act like she spends her time kicking around in coveralls and old work boots?

    Personally, I couldn't care less. Rich people buy expensive clothes, which is why I think they're ALL a bunch of scam artists.

    A smidge of objectivity, please.

    Posted by TexasFlood at 10/25/2008 @ 03:50am

14. Unless, of course, you understand the woman is a shining example of hypocrisy.

    In which case you'll receive no argument from me.

    Posted by TexasFlood at 10/25/2008 @ 03:57am

15. Does anyone here think that she will run for president in 2012? I've just gleaned this bit of info from the blogs.

    Won't the republicans get a grip by then and have a candidate that isn't as uninformed as her? Or will they think that she can 'get 'er did'?

    I thought GW was scary, but after this election I've decided that she is an enabler of people who just have attitudes, not actual opinions. So she is in the position of creating an army of people just like her. Or is she?

    Please inform and educate.

    Posted by ficheye at 10/25/2008 @ 04:50am

16. "Does anyone here think that she will run for president in 2012?"

    No.

    She's embarrassed even the thick-skinned GOP too much.

    Might even lose her guv slot.

    But she may have a nice career on rightwing religious cable TV, praising her lord & fleecing the suckers.

    Posted by sloper at 10/25/2008 @ 04:58am

17. (as posted elsewhere) I cannot understand American politics. Surely the selection of a president, and all matters of politics in the World's Only Superpower (tm) should have some gravitas. Surely these are serious matters.

    But somehow a deep groove has been cut in American consciousness by television, endlessly repeating a narrow range of pap. In the television world there is no gravitas at all, no acknowledgment of the complexity of issues, and the vital importance of a deep grasp of them, and if there is, one can change channels. Buzz words only. Three syllables max.

    The world is teetering on the brink of climate change and ecological collapse. Its financial system is in tatters. Wars rage and irrational hatreds sweep like plagues across the planet. At home, a depression looms. Poverty and unemployment are skyrocketing. Folks are losing their homes and jobs. In the face of these and many other serious challenges, the Republican Party produces... ta dah! ... Sarah Palin!

    And a great many Americans appear to treat it as somehow a normal, maybe even correct thing to do. They spend endless hours gossiping about her, her family, her looks, clothing and accessories, just like any other television star.

    How many Americans are so entranced by the medium that they will vote for this incompetent, ignorant person, because she looks pretty and says the right phrases as long as she's kept on her leash? Come on folks, get real. Even if you lean right, you can't vote for her or McCain. The old boy might pop off at any time - and then, God Help America.

    Posted by mikecope at 10/25/2008 @ 04:59am

18. Here is what I don't understand. An article by E. Wellington in the philly news was saying how a gal just has to go out there looking good and how aweful if they would have sent Palin out into the public eye with such a limited or outdated wardrobe. She chose to go out in the public eye and all of them chose to present the case for "the average american hardworking mom". I don't know how outdated her wardrobe was, but being the Gov. of Alaska, I bet it was a heck of a lot better than your average american hardworking mom to begin with. And if not, what was the big deal? Take a few shots from high-end fashion people but remain true to who you say you really are or not. Although as I said, being Gov. and traveling around in planes and staying at fancy hotels...I beg to differ that her wardrobe was that of your average american working mom to begin with. And what Wellington and others must not even have a clue about is, you can still spend very little and look like a million bucks. Why not TJ Max, or some of those stores I see/go into when in the city. They have very nice clothing. According to Wellington's article, those that don't pay that much just don't look very good....very sad she said that. And...Palin could have said no, and chose shops that were not on the extreme high side and so-forth. So could the campaign advisors or whoever did her shopping for her. This isn't as much about clothing as it is dishonesty and all that seems to drip from this campaign's headquarters...

    Posted by wrkgmom.mn at 10/25/2008 @ 09:28am

19. "Does anyone here think that she will run for president in 2012? I've just gleaned this bit of info from the blogs."

    I would love if she did. That would solidify the Republicans as the party of the Deep South, Wyoming, and Idaho.

    Posted by onthehelm at 10/25/2008 @ 10:53am

20. onthehelm....I think she's ALREADY running for 2012-

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com /2008/10/25/ mccain-faces-internal-pal_n_137786.html

    Posted by Maskdelta at 10/25/2008 @ 12:19pm

21. Come on, onthehelm, we are all patriotic Americans even in the deep south. We are trying hard to go at least purple! Slamming us does not help! Palin is an idiot, but she appeals to some people. We need to educate our fellow Americans in a kind voice, versus degrading. It is a time to not be devisive. Help people understand her inexperience and Christian right ideologies. Let the Republicans use scare tactics...we need to use reason and compassion to wake up the kind of dull minded Americans that would vote for a "Maverick" over a real health care plan.

    Posted by truthandjustice at 10/25/2008 @ 2:53pm

22. I'm listening to a Palin Rally speech on television. Her entire speech is wrapped around the comment made by Senator Biden that said that Senator Obama was going to be tested by world events in the first six months of his administration. She conveniently leaves out the part about senator Obama having a spine of steel. Why is she ridiculing that comment in any event? is she suggesting that the world is so afraid of ol' john McCain that they wouldn't dare challenge him in any way? Is she suggesting that they wouldn't be ready to meet a major challenge? Is she suggesting that if we only maintain the present status that things will be o.k.? Is she in fact a walking talking cybernetic? Just plug a CD in her navel and she goes around spewing idiotic platitudes? How the hell did she get elected in Alaska? I know some people in Alaska. These people are really sharp. Palin sounds like a total air head.

    Posted by lachatte at 10/25/2008 @ 5:43pm