WORLD> America
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WORLD> America
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Obama fundraising drops as McCain's cash dwindles
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-10-24 17:18 While Obama had drawn attention by his fundraising, McCain's running mate, Sarah Palin, and the RNC came under scrutiny this week after the party committee reported that it had spent about $150,000 on wardrobe and cosmetics after Palin became McCain's running mate.
In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, Palin complained she was being held to a different standard and said the clothes bought for the Republican National Convention were not worth $150,000. She said most of the clothes have not left the campaign plane. "Oh, if people only knew how frugal we are," she said Thursday. There was no evidence of additional clothing purchases in the most recent reports. But McCain's Oct. 1-15 filing showed that the campaign paid $22,800 to Palin's traveling stylist, Amy Strozzi, an acclaimed celebrity makeup artist. In contrast, McCain's foreign policy adviser, Randy Scheunemann, was paid $12,500, the report showed. McCain's major expense was advertising, he spent more than $19 million from Oct. 1-15 on ads. The RNC contributed an extra $10 million to help with those media buys. It also spent $8.5 million on ads on behalf of McCain that were placed independently of his campaign. McCain also filed two additional reports. A report covering his primary contest shows he has $21 million in leftover funds. McCain cannot use that money for the general election, because he has accepted $84 million in public financing. But he has given some of the remaining money from the primaries to Republican Party committees in key battleground states to help him with his campaign. Much of that money has been spent on direct mail and get-out-the-vote efforts. McCain's other report covered another account with $20.5 million as of Oct. 15. That fund can only be used to help cover legal and compliance costs associated with his participation in the public financing system. |
