The Republican team views the spending story as irrelevant.
"It doesn't matter that Palin's costing us a fortune for her wardrobe," one insider said. "What matters is that she's costing us the election."
WASHINGTON: Financial records show the Republican National Committee has spent more than $US 150,000 . . . on clothes for vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, the political news website Politico has reported.
The Republicans' main campaign and fund-raising organ spent tens of thousands at high-end stores such as Bloomingdale's and Barney's in New York, Saks Fifth Avenue in St Louis and New York and Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis, the website said. The committee also spent $US4716 on hair and make-up during September, Politico reported.
Those kinds of expenditures did not appear in the committee's financial disclosure records before the Alaska Governor was added to John McCain's ticket in August, it said.
Politico said it reviewed the committee's September monthly financial disclosure report and found a new category, "campaign accessories", included in the report of "itemised co-ordinated expenditures" . . .
Another $US4902 was "spent at Atelier, a high-class shopping destination for men", Politico noted. The spending on Mrs Palin's image emerged at the same time as reports that she has charged the state for her children to travel with her on official visits, including to events where they were not invited, and later amended expense reports to specify that they were on official business.
Mrs Palin has charged the state $US21,012 for her three daughters' commercial flights. The charges included costs for her daughters to join Mrs Palin to watch their father in a snowmobile race.
"We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America, being here with all of you hard working very patriotic, um, very, um, pro-America areas of this great nation.
"This is where we find the kindness and the goodness and the courage of everyday Americans. Those who are running our factories and teaching our kids and growing our food and are fighting our wars for us. Those who are protecting us in uniform. Those who are protecting the virtues of freedom."
-- Sarah Palin in North Carolina
In what read more like an obituary than a commentary, Peggy Noonan wrote in the Wall Street Journal: "In the end the Palin candidacy is a symptom and expression of a new vulgarization in American politics. It's no good, not for conservatism and not for the country. And yes, it is a mark against John McCain, against his judgment and idealism."(Well, I wouldn't say a "new" vulgarization, actually.)
The magazine [Newsweek] reported 86 per cent of the 1212 voters polled said they are dissatisfied with how things were going in the United States. The economy was the biggest concern with 48 per cent. When asked which candidate would better handle a number of issues, Senator Obama topped every category except national security and terrorism.
"For context on just how toxic these numbers could be for the Republican Party, consider that in October 2006, weeks before the Democrats swept control of both houses of Congress, only 61 per cent of voters expressed dissatisfaction," Newsweek wrote.
CNN) -- Fannie Mae said it will set aside the loan of a woman who shot herself as sheriff's deputies tried to evict her from her foreclosed home.
Fannie Mae foreclosed on the Akron, Ohio, home of Addie Polk, 90, after acquiring the mortgage in 2007.
Addie Polk, 90, of Akron, Ohio, became a symbol of the nation's home mortgage crisis when she was hospitalized after shooting herself at least twice in the upper body Wednesday afternoon.
On Friday, Fannie Mae spokesman Brian Faith said the mortgage association had decided to halt action against Polk and sign the property "outright" to her.
"We're going to forgive whatever outstanding balance she had on the loan and give her the house," Faith said. "Given the circumstances, we think it's appropriate."
Residents of Akron have rallied behind Polk, who is being treated at Akron General Medical Center. She was listed in critical condition Friday afternoon, according to Akron City Council President Marco Sommerville.
U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, mentioned Polk on the House floor Friday during debate over the latest economic rescue proposal.
"This bill does nothing for the Addie Polks of the world," Kucinich said after telling her story. "This bill fails to address the fact that millions of homeowners are facing foreclosure, are facing the loss of their home. This bill will take care of Wall Street, and the market may go up for a few days, but democracy is going downhill."
CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts (AP) -- The number of homeless families in Massachusetts has surged -- a spike that has overwhelmed the state's shelter capacity and forced it to again place homeless families in motels.
The number of homeless families living in Massachusetts motels skyrocketed in September 2008.
Driving the increase is the sour economy, rising energy costs, escalating unemployment and shortage of affordable housing. For the first time, the state is tracking how many families are winding up homeless due to foreclosures.
"You're seeing a perfect storm," said Robyn Frost, executive director of the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless. . .
In just the past 12 months, the number of homeless families living in Massachusetts motels has skyrocketed from 17 in September 2007 to 550 in September 2008. That's on top of another 1,800 or so families in shelters . . .
Massachusetts isn't alone. Advocates for the homeless say that while statistics are still sketchy, many areas are reporting increases in the number of homeless families. . .As of midweek there were 588 families in 29 hotels across the state. . .
The state is also starting to track foreclosures as a cause for homelessness. That typically occurs when a multifamily home or apartment building is foreclosed on and the tenants are evicted, sometimes losing their security deposit in the process, making it harder to come up with the rent for a new apartment.
Frost said the state should focus on creating more housing vouchers to get homeless families into permanent homes quickly.
"If people are permanently housed, kids get education and parents can keep their jobs," she said. "Without vouchers you're going to continue to see this storm."
["sarah palin'" is to "deep" as "sylvia plath" is to "perky"]The way that I have understood the world is on a much more local level than been the good old boy network that has been the Washington elite.— Sarah Palin Fictional Quote Generator v1.0
Democrat Barack Obama is building widening leads in the three key battleground states of Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania, new polls released on Wednesday show.
The latest figures show the Illinois senator is gaining momentum on Republican John McCain as the rivals dash back to Washington to vote on a $US700 billion ($882 billion) Wall Street bail-out package.
The Quinnipiac University study suggests Obama won Friday's presidential debate and that McCain's vice presidential running mate Sarah Palin is suffering from sliding popularity after a stunning initial impact on the race.
They also indicate that voters trust Obama more to handle the financial crisis rocking the US economy, and he seems to be convincing Americans he is ready to be president.
"It is difficult to find a modern competitive presidential race that has swung so dramatically, so quickly and so sharply this late in the campaign," said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac polling institute.
The surveys show that in Pennsylvania, Obama leads McCain by a gaping 54 per cent to 39 per cent after the debate, compared with 49 per cent to 43 per cent before the debate.
He is up 51 per cent to 43 per cent in swing state Florida, compared to a 49 to 43 per cent lead before Friday's first of three high-stakes presidential debates.
And in Ohio, Obama is up eight points, 50 per cent to 42 per cent, after having led by 49 per cent to 42 per cent before the clash in Mississippi.
The trio of swing states - which have a history of going either Republican or Democrat and swinging presidential elections - are vital stepping stones to the White House on November 4. . .
CNN polls found that men scored the debate 46 to 42 per cent for Senator McCain, but 59 per cent of women thought Senator Obama had won, to 39 per cent for Senator McCain.
