Diva fever
Updated on 07 November 2008
Felicity Spector looks at the bitter recriminations in the Republican camp, particularly directed at Sarah Palin.
What a contrast. The sleek machine of the new Obama admistration is already shaping up as the transfer of power begins, but the Republicans disintegrate into yet more bitter recriminations.
And the latest target is Sarah Palin, with more allegations that she simply wasn't up to the job.
Fox News, hardly known for its liberal bias, reports the latest gossip from the McCain campaign. According to aides, Governor Palin didn't know Africa was a continent - she thought it was a country. And, says the reporter, she asked if South Africa was "just part of the country".
Her knowledge didn't get much better closer to home, Fox continues, she couldn't name the three countries in NAFTA (Canada, the United States, and Mexico, in case you're interested).
And Fox has more claims to back up that 'Diva' allegation. Mrs Palin, it says, was a nightmare to work with - she and John McCain barely spoke.
According to Newsweek, she was told to get three suits to wear at the Republican convention, and maybe hire a stylist, but instead the Alaska governor went on a massive shopping spree.
After her disasterous interview with Katie Couric (which she allegedly refused to prepare for) she bawled out her staff and other times threw 'tantrums' over critical reports in the press. She was so difficult to work with, alleges the reporter, that some of her staff were reduced to tears.
Mrs Palin has angrily denied what she calls "bitter and false allegations".
But wait, there's more, with anonymous insiders quoted as saying Palin and her aides acted like a bunch of "Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus coast to coast".
Apparently she spent tens of thousands of dollars MORE than the controversial $150,000 she splurged on a wardrobe of new designer clothes. According to Newsweek, she was told to get three suits to wear at the Republican convention, and maybe hire a stylist, but instead the Alaska governor went on a massive shopping spree.
Her seven year old daughter, Piper, was even spotted with a $790 Louis Vuitton bag. Newsweek claims it was all purchased by a wealthy party donor who was 'flabbergasted' when he saw what she'd bought.
The Governor herself told the press she had no idea her new wardrobe had cost so much and other insiders have denied another claim that aides were told to charge Palin's clothes to their own credit cards and then try and get reimbursed.
In Arizona, the day after the election, Mrs Palin said "there is absolutely no diva in me". But if image is all in politics, she's not looking much like that winking, friendly face that she's worked so hard to present.
