Newsweek: Palin Shopping Spree Far Worse Than Reported

Now that the 2008 presidential election is finally over, the real fun begins — the post-election dirt-dishing.

Politico’s Mike Allen reports that, per tradition, the new issue of Newsweek will hit the stands Thursday with an epic 50,000-word insider history of the campaign. The piece was written by a “special team that gets exclusive access on the agreement to publish only after the election.”

Among the highlights: it seems there was much more to the McCain-Palin soap opera than was publicly revealed. For example, remember that $150,000 spending spree that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin supposedly had nothing to do with? Well, according to Newsweek, it was indeed of Palin’s doing, and it was far more costly than initially reported.

From Playbook:

“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 … said the truth will eventually come out when the Republican Party audits its books.”

So much for her “fiscal-conservative” credibility. 2012 oppo-researchers, take note.

Newsweek also reveals that NBC’s Chuck Todd may have been on to something when he remarked, after a joint interview with Brian Williams, that Sen. John McCain and Palin appeared to have no chemistry together.

“McCain himself rarely spoke to Palin during the campaign, and aides kept him in the dark about the details of her spending on clothes because they were sure he would be offended. Palin asked to speak along with McCain at his Arizona concession speech Tuesday night, but campaign strategist Steve Schmidt vetoed the request.”

It sounds like we can probably expect to hear quite a bit of criticism of Palin from McCain campaign staffers in coming weeks.