Opinion: All Votes Are Final -- Palin’s Wardrobe, Maybe Not

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The McCain-Palin ticket promised to do something to boost the economy, and even thought it lost, it kinda sorta did.

The Times reported that the luxury store Neiman Marcus got whomped with a 26.8% decline in sales from last October. Other chains like Saks and Nordstrom took a big hit, too. And the month before, in September, Neiman Marcus’ sales figures were down by 11% from a year earlier.

Imagine how much worse those numbers might have been if it hadn’t been for the shopping sprees reported by the RNC for the Sarah Palin candidacy: $75,062 at Neiman Marcus, $49,425 at Saks, and an afterthought-looking $9,447 at the mid-market Macys.

There are reports that the RNC may head north to Alaska to repossess what it can of the Cinderella wardrobe, but on the campaign trail, Palin herself said she regarded them as props: ‘These clothes — they’re not my property, just like the lighting and the staging and everything else that the RNC purchased. I am not taking them with me.’’

What, I wonder, is Neiman’s return policy? The website says the company provide refunds up to 180 days (presumably from the date of purchase), but only if the clothes are ‘unworn, unwashed or defective.’ Does ‘defeated’ qualify as ‘defective’? After the 180 days elapse, might one qualify for a store credit? And would the credit be good until 2012?

AP Photo/Elise Amendola, File