US election: Sarah Palin is a pitbull with (expensive) lipstick

SARAH Palin, the Republican vice-presidential candidate, has enjoyed a £90,000 clothes and make-up budget, election campaigners admitted today.

The party's National Committee splashed out at top stores spending £46,000 in one trip to Neiman Marcus and almost £3,000 on hair and make-up for Mrs Palin who has described herself as "a pitbull with lipstick".

John McCain's presidential campaign said today that the clothes will go to a "charitable purpose" after the election.

The expenses were unearthed by the website Politico.com but initially the party refused to discuss them.

Today a McCain spokeswoman said: "With all of the important issues facing the country right now, it's remarkable that we're spending time talking about pantsuits and blouses.

"It was always the intent that the clothing go to a charitable purpose after the campaign."

The National Committee has been helping the McCain campaign financially now that Mr McCain is locked into spending only 84 million dollars for the campaign after deciding to accept public financing.

Barack Obama opted out of the public system and raised a massive 150 million dollars in September.

The National Committee is allowed to spend up to 19 million dollars in "co-ordinated expenses" with the campaign.

In September it spent a a total of 4.4 million dollars. The clothing and styling was part of that, but most went on postage for campaign mailings.

Federal campaign finance law prohibits the use of campaign funds for personal use, but it defines personal use as any expense "that would exist irrespective of the candidate's campaign or duties as a federal officeholder."


McCain: Obama is 'acting like the election's over'

Barack Obama was accused of arrogantly assuming victory in the presidential race by Republican rival John McCain today.

With less than two weeks until election day, Mr Obama leads the Republican by more than seven points in the latest average of national polls by RealClearPolitics.com.

But Mr McCain suggested that he relished being the underdog as he campaigned in the battleground state of New Hampshire today – the same state where Mr Obama failed to beat his former rival, Hillary Clinton, in the Democratic primary season, despite leading in the polls.

And New Hampshire also helped Mr McCain revive his campaign in the Republican primary contest in January after it was virtually written off last year.

Today, Mr Obama is more than nine points clear of Mr McCain in the state and the 72-year-old Arizona senator wants to achieve a similar comeback to put his presidential bid back on track.

Speaking in Manchester, New Hampshire, Mr McCain said: "It doesn't matter what the pundits think or how confident my opponent is, the people of New Hampshire make their own decisions, and more than once, more than once, they've ignored the polls and the pundits and brought me across the finish line first.

"I can't think of any place I'd rather be as election day draws close than running an underdog campaign in the state of New Hampshire."

He went on: "My opponent's looking pretty confident these days.

"He'll be addressing the nation soon, he's got another one of those big stadium spectacles in the works, but acting like the election's over – it won't let him take away your chance to have the final say in this election.

"Every once in a while my opponent gives us a glimpse of what an Obama presidency would be like in the real world."