Dissent Of The Day

A reader writes:

Seriously, this outrage over the $150k spent for clothes and makeup seems completely overblown.  Anyone who went to the high school prom knows about this double standard for women.

My girlfriend spent 2 months and $1000 finding the perfect red dress and shoes; I drove my '82 Corolla to Mr. Tux a week before and rented my tux - with a coupon from my local newspaper - for $150.  I'm sure Obama's suits are a few thousand each, but if he's photographed on Tuesday in Gainesville wearing the same black suit that he wore on Monday in Akron, no one's gonna care. Palin has to look the part (especially given her inability to act it), and it's just a fact that it costs more for women than it does for men.  We're a long way from respectable Republican cloth coats.

Furthermore, what percentage of the campaign's overall budget does that represent?  McCain had $47 million to spend in October... symbolism aside, this really seems like a negligible amount of money.