Sign in to wowOwow

Enter the email address that you used when registering at wowOwow.
The password field is case sensitive. Click here if you have forgotten your password.

Please register for wowOwow

Newsletter subscriptions
Sign up to receive wowOwow's weekly newsletter and get our best picks delivered right to your inbox. Our newsletter content is hand-picked by the wowOwow editorial team and provides the top features, news, and commentary from our site. Subscribing to our newsletter is free and safe. We will never share your email or other information with a third-party without your direct consent.
By registering, you indicate that you have read and agree
with our privacy policy and terms of service.

Politics | 11/12/2008 6:00 am

Palin Innocent in Shopping Spree Scandal, Says Source

Insider sources exonerate Palin in clothing debacle, but raise even more mysterious questions…
By The Staff at wowOwow.com
© AP

Sarah Palin caught a lot of flack for spending an alleged $150,000 on her campaign-ready wardrobe. The matter’s been fodder for plenty of press, but Gov. Palin finally spoke out this week and told Fox News’s Greta van Susteren that she had nothing to do with the controversial shopping sprees at upscale shops. Said the former vice-presidential candidate, "[I] did not order the clothes. Did not ask for the clothes. I would have been happy to wear my own clothes from day one."

Today, a source close to John McCain’s presidential campaign revealed exclusively to wowOwow that it was two stylists who often do work for CBS journalist Katie Couric who were hired by former CBS News political analyst and McCain senior strategist, Nicolle Wallace, around the time of the Republican National Convention. Wallace had worked for CBS Evening News until May 2008 when she left to work on the McCain campaign. Said the source, "They weren’t given any budget or parameters. They just told the stylists to work for her, because coming from Alaska, she needed a new look. She was a small-town girl who needed to look like a big-city girl."

Wallace is close friends with Couric. Couric would go on to get the second major interview and the longest television time with the former Republican vice-presidential candidate.

The two stylists, whose names have not been released, were the ones who bought the controversial wardrobe that Palin went on to wear. The source said that Sarah Palin "was used to wearing Ann Taylor and then all of a sudden, clothing was being brought in for her family." Concluded the source, "They simply picked out the clothes for Gov. Palin and told her to wear it. The stylists were told not to tell her how much the clothes cost but just to put them on."

Palin went on to distance herself even further in her van Susteren interview, "[I] didn’t know the New York stylists who they had hired or anything else. They were really nice gals. They were wonderful people. And you know, it was, I guess, productive, in a sense, in that they picked out some really nice clothes to borrow for a while there. But that was not anything that the Palin family would have chosen for ourselves."

112 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

Chips AHoey
nuh-uh - really, I said who cares from the beginning - I voted for Obama because that’s who I wanted to win, simple, done…
By Chips AHoey on 11/12/2008 6:56 pm
Chips AHoey
lol - that was for franny - this reply stuff doesn’t indent right -
By Chips AHoey on 11/12/2008 6:57 pm
Okpulot Taha
Andrea tickles my fancy, “I must wonder why, after AIG is all over the news about THEIR excessive spending and “let them eat cake” attitude regarding same, we are still so fascinated with Palin. Ouu! You bad girl! You are highlighting this extreme hypocrisy of a majority of Americans, and readers are reminded politicians are Americans. Like you, Andrea, I am keeping close tabs on how our tax money is being given to Wall Street. Initially, this was a “bailout” then a “rescue” and now, who knows. I am truthful about this. Our tax money is being used to reward Wall Street for their decades of financial crimes against America. AIG, tell ya, if I had a rocket launcher and a snot rocket, I would slime those arrogant boys. How about this? We Americans are providing billions and billions of dollars to AIG and those boys are using our money to party. Meanwhile, bozo Americans are all upset because Sarah was provided nice clothes which she needed to present a winning image to America. How much have we tax payers given AIG? I lost track. I think we have given AIG close to a hundred-billion dollars so those boys can fly off to party at luxury resorts and enjoy five grand a night hookers. Hey Katie Couric! Why are you not asking hard questions about our tax payer billions of dollars being used to hire hookers for corporate asses? Americans are such bozo hypocrites. We are being absolutely screwed by our government and all which comes to the minds of Americans, is Sarah. Okpulot Taha Choctaw Nation
By Okpulot Taha on 11/12/2008 10:50 am
C Hardy
You know who cares how much money was spent on Palin’s clothes, the Obama supporters on this website…Man it was a 3 day if not more discussion about how much clothes this lady spent and there was even one blogger who went to say she say Palin buying the clothes, I guess now that was a lie…I am glad its finally coming to light b/c there has been some really ugly things said on this website about Palin and I am glad that she is finally talking. From the interview that I heard she never wanted to duck the press, she wanted to interview the whole time but THEY stopped her…The THEY are the ones who are now spreading these lies about Palin and her family. Oh well, I hope all the mean things people said on this site about the money SHE spent on those clothes can come back and say they were wrong b/c once again they believed everything our wonderful (HAHAHAHA) media tells them…
By C Hardy on 11/12/2008 11:12 am
DeBúrca obj
Did I miss something? “It was a lie”… and we know this because Palin SAYS it was a lie?
By DeBúrca obj on 11/12/2008 6:11 pm
C Hardy
How do we know its the truth, that she went out and spent that money? Just b/c the media said so?
By C Hardy on 11/13/2008 6:39 am
DeBúrca obj
The media reports. It’s their job.
By DeBúrca obj on 11/13/2008 10:42 am
T P
The media reports what they want to report. Sometimes it’s edited to death. Slanted for the audience etc…. Dan Rather made a comment about media bias that was very interesting. Rather: Biden Crisis Remark Shows Media Bias http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/rather_biden_crisis/2008/10/21/142669… Take care.
By T P on 11/13/2008 4:52 pm
DeBúrca obj
They can’t edit words INTO a sentence.
By DeBúrca obj on 11/13/2008 5:10 pm
HA BIBI
Oh my God, anyone who thinks the media can’t or doesn’t lie to pad their case, is a basket case themselves! AND, should have their head examined, Sheeeesh, unbelievable at best.
By HA BIBI on 11/13/2008 6:15 pm
kermie b
Tanja Pineda—After what happened to Dan Rather and the complete trainwreck of his career (whether or not he was set up is still up in the air), I don’t blame him for not trusting the media. Earlier this week it was revealed that two guys set up a phony website, pretending to be political analysts, who came up with the “Palin doesn’t know Africa is a continent” outright lie, and are laughing themselves silly at her expense. It seems if one is in the public eye, one is fodder for lies and a microscopic survey of one’s past. I don’t care for Palin, but I felt duped and angry that these guys got away with this.
By kermie b on 11/14/2008 2:26 pm
DeBúrca obj
I never cared what she spent. Aside from the REAL issues that bothered me about Palin, as far as the $150,000 clothing goes, what I cared about was that she was a shill being dressed by the McCain Campaign in highly expensive clothes so she could go on the campaign trail calling Obama an “elitist”, promoting herself as just “one of us”, and making all the BS remarks about the “real” America. The hypocrisy of it along with the stupidity of the McCain Camp thinking they would get away with such a ruse is what bothered me and most Obama supporters.
By DeBúrca obj on 11/13/2008 8:31 pm
Edie Williams
Seems to me this is a story worth reading. Why is it buried on your web site?
By Edie Williams on 11/12/2008 12:01 pm
J Holmes
From the beginning I realized it was not Sarah Palin shopping for the clothes (I mistakenly thought everyone knew that). To me the issue was that the RNC bought clothes for the candidate to wear. I just thought that was pretty bizarre. Did the RNC purchase clothes for previous candidates? Hopefully this can be put to rest - so much more to think about.
By J Holmes on 11/12/2008 2:23 pm
Susan Easterday
This is a relevant article—in fact I was looking for it today and found it buried. It’s relevant because people didn’t vote for McCain because of these lies and it affected the election. I’m not saying Obama wouldn’t have won, but it shows how duped people can be by the media. I saw at least one person on a blog say they weren’t voting for McCain/Palin anymore because she read/heard this and didn’t think she “was one of us” anymore. I feel fundamentally most voters don’t know real policies of their candidaters, they vote because of things like this—very sad.
By Susan Easterday on 11/12/2008 2:49 pm