What business does Sarah Palin have spending $75,000+ at Neiman Marcus and $50,000 at Saks if she's not planning to be part of the "Washington elite" or "seek their good opinion," as she told the Republican National Convention in September? She probably wants to look snazzy on TV, because the poors get the same channels as the elites, and appearances matter more than they should. John Edwards knew that, so he spent $400 on hair cuts until he was accused of being a slick poverty pimp by various conservatives. Now that Politico has caught the Republicans' designated working-class icon being far more profligate — Edwards could get 10 haircuts just on the Palin/McCain ticket's monthly hair and makeup bill — reps for the "small town... hockey mom" aren't even bothering to deny their hypocrisy:

Spokeswoman Maria Comella declined to answer specific questions about the expenditures, including whether it was necessary to spend that much and whether it amounted to one early investment in Palin or if shopping for the vice presidential nominee was ongoing.
“The campaign does not comment on strategic decisions regarding how financial resources available to the campaign are spent," she said.

The McCain campaign must have known this was coming. In fact, it seems to have timed it: Palin's purchases didn't start until September, according to Politico, even though the convention started Sept. 1 and Palin spoke Sept. 3. Maybe the campaign wanted to push disclosure back a month, near the end of the campaign, after Palin had cemented her blue-collar reputation.

Also, prior to her disastrous interviews with ABC's Charlie Gibson and CBS' Katie Couric, Palin tended to help the McCain ticket whenever she was mentioned, regardless of the context, by distracting people from her less popular running mate. That was the case when the first reports surfaced of Palin dressing in the clothing of the elites last month.

Since then, the economy has imploded and unemployment is skyrocketing. And as implausible as it might seem, there just might be some lingering Palin supporters in swing states who could stomach Palin's embarrassing interviews but not the betrayal of Barney's and Bloomindale's.