Sarah Palin - a 'ride or die' for you type of chick, as long as the money keeps rollin' her way!
In an open letter to the 'queen of political hustle', Conor Freidersdorf of The Atlantic, puts Sarah Palin on blast for how she's using campaign funds, from supporters with limited means, for personal and very questionable spending trends. Conor's letter to Alaskas's former governor, who quit the job in search of an ever fertile political playground laced with more campaign dollars to tempt small town Christian values, reads as follows (videos included in Freidersdorf's entire, original post at The Atlantic have been excluded):
Ms. Palin,
Your supporters trust you. For all their cynicism
about politics, they believe that you're different: a faithful Christian
with small town values and a commitment to doing right by regular
Americans. You've used that trust to ask homemakers, retirees and small
businessmen and women to send you their money. As the Web page of your
official political action committee puts it, SarahPAC is "dedicated to building America's future by supporting fresh ideas and candidates."
But that isn't how you've been spending the money.
Sure,
you've given to candidates in the past. But you spent $418,000 in the
first 3 months on 2012, and none of it has gone to candidates! Nor has
it gone to "fresh ideas." In fact, as Kenneth Vogel points out,
it appears that you spent $19,000 on a video that argues an HBO film
about your role in the 2008 presidential campaign gets its facts wrong.
Is that correct? It's 2 minutes and 38 seconds long:...
Do you think that is worth $19,000? Or $1,000? Given that you have a
popular Facebook page, regular gigs on national television, and the
ability to summon multiple reporters to a press conference at any time,
why would you spend $19,000 saying to very few people what you could've
said free? Even if the short video is worth thousands to you, why do you
think it's appropriate to spend money raised on the promise that you'll
support fresh ideas and candidates on contesting events that a)
happened in 2008; b) have no bearing on this year's political races or
issues; c) mostly just affects your reputation; d) is unlikely to change
anyone's opinion of it?
Why should your donors bankroll this?
You've
also spent $255,000 "on fundraising and a small team of political
consultants." And perhaps there's a reasonable explanation for the
$1,000 you spent at the Disneyland Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.
What is it?
As
I recall, this isn't the first time you've produced a high budget video
to reflect well on yourself for no apparent reason...
For the sake of your supporters, please do not reply by video.
Sincerely,
Conor Friedersdorf
No need to read between the lines in this address to Palin, Conor obviously pulls no punches and appears to back up his accusations. But the ever charismatic with a wink - Sarah Palin, when confronted with issues concerning and questioning her character flaws and overt brand of hustle, will surely take offense and figure out a new way to work the sheep.
