One Last Kick When She's Down

(Not that she doesn't have it coming:)

NEWSWEEK has also learned that Palin's shopping spree at high-end department stores was more extensive than previously reported. While publicly supporting Palin, McCain's top advisers privately fumed at what they regarded as her outrageous profligacy. One senior aide said that Nicolle Wallace had told Palin to buy three suits for the convention and hire a stylist. But instead, the vice presidential nominee began buying for herself and her family—clothes and accessories from top stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. According to two knowledgeable sources, a vast majority of the clothes were bought by a wealthy donor, who was shocked when he got the bill. Palin also used low-level staffers to buy some of the clothes on their credit cards. The McCain campaign found out last week when the aides sought reimbursement. One aide estimated that she spent "tens of thousands" more than the reported $150,000, and that $20,000 to $40,000 went to buy clothes for her husband. Some articles of clothing have apparently been lost. An angry aide characterized the shopping spree as "Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast," and said the truth will eventually come out when the Republican Party audits its books.

Don't expect Sarah Palin's star to rise too high or burn too brightly after this election. That lady was belle ideal for everything that was wrong with the Republican Party in recent history. Don't count on Republicans of any stripe to be turning to her any time soon for answers.

Yes, she'll probably get elected to the US Senate when Stevens gets shown the door (Alaska elected her once, they'll probably do it again), but she's lost her new-car smell, and the Republican Party higher-ups (as well as fellow Senators) aren't going to be giving her any more chances to "go rogue" and fuck up the program. And don't think for a minute that the you betchas and winks are going to help her in the back rooms of Congress, on the Senate Floor, or in Washington social circles.

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UPDATE:

The Anchorage Daily News is even less optimistic about Sarah Palin's future than I am.

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UPDATE 2:

Fox News tells us that McCain campaign staffers... boy do they have some stories to tell about Sarah Palin now that the election is over.