John McCain's $520 shoes, or Obama liking arugula (which i'm still not sure what this is)... which is worse?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/isabel-wilkinson/a-week-in-john-mccains-sh_b_115692.html

Quote :

"This summer John McCain is traveling in style. He has worn a pair of $520 black leather Ferragamo shoes on every recent campaign stop — from a news conference with the Dalai Lama to a supermarket visit in Bethlehem, PA. The Calfskin loafers, with silver-tone "Gancini" buckles, are imported from Italy. "

The shoes aren't even American either.

So how is it Obama gets painted as this elitist, when McCain is very likely much more elitist?

note: I don't care how elitist either of them are, but the media is funny sometimes

8/11/2008 8:21:52 PM

Rich people indulge in luxuries news at 11.

8/11/2008 8:42:12 PM

Quote :

" arugula"

umm...i eat arugula in my salad... am i an elitist now?

8/11/2008 8:49:39 PM

Um, YEAH.


At least McCain is putting the shoes to good use. Unlike people who buy them and throw them in a closet with 40000 other pairs.

8/11/2008 8:51:25 PM

only if you don't eat at the Applebees salad bar

8/11/2008 8:54:24 PM

Goddammit. This changes everything.

8/11/2008 8:56:54 PM

^^^^ http://www.newsweek.com/id/134398

You may be.

8/11/2008 9:00:21 PM

^ i read only the 1st page and it is stupid. great, let's chastise someone for trying to eat healthy. why can't he be a normall full-blooded american and stuff himself with cheesebugers and doughnuts?

8/11/2008 11:12:14 PM

Obviously you're an elitist.

8/11/2008 11:18:33 PM

good thread

8/11/2008 11:45:25 PM

Quote :

"So how is it Obama gets painted as this elitist, when McCain is very likely much more elitist?"

For wearing Ferragamo shoes? You're kidding, right?

Do we expect our Presidents to wear polyester suits with clip-on ties and button-down oxford shirts now? The guy is "interviewing" for a job that pays $400,000 a year. I'm sure we can expect him to wear nice shoes.

(Don't even get me started on the arugula thing. You're making me squirm. What's wrong with kids today?)

8/12/2008 3:01:48 AM

Considering the current holder of the job he is interviewing for perhaps a "I'm with stupid" t-shirt is more in order.

8/12/2008 9:17:48 AM

If I were rich, I don't think I would wear expensive shoes. That's just not exciting enough.

8/12/2008 9:23:45 AM

^^ Agreed.

8/12/2008 9:27:27 AM

just what the heck is wrong with oxford shirts?

8/12/2008 9:46:06 AM

edwards 800 dollar haircut

8/12/2008 9:48:00 AM

Quote :

"huffingtonpost.com"

8/12/2008 9:53:21 AM

I don't get haircuts anymore.

Not affluent enough.

8/12/2008 9:57:03 AM

^lolololol

8/12/2008 9:58:11 AM

i wonder what the most any of you have paid for a pair of shoes, and the most you've ever paid for a haircut

cause i damn sure know you've paid a lot more for shoes

8/12/2008 10:00:13 AM

^ True, the most I'll pay for a haircut is 20.

8/12/2008 11:02:42 AM

Quote :

"This changes everything."

lololol

8/12/2008 11:10:47 AM

ha arugula is elitist?! expensive shoes are acceptable in my opinion, because its much more than your feet. haircut's over 50 are lavish, personally i have never paid more than 20, and have cut my own for the past 3 years. so a multi-hundred dollar haircut is just a waste imo. but arugula, thats like 5 dollars for some decent vegetation.

[Edited on August 12, 2008 at 11:21 AM. Reason : arugula <<<<<<<< 520 orthopedic shoes <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< 100+ haircut]

8/12/2008 11:11:26 AM

most expensive haircut i ever got was 35 and that was for highlights(no homo)...most expensive shows ever were 140 for some nikes...i'll try to find a pic



[Edited on August 12, 2008 at 11:13 AM. Reason : those shoes were the fucking heat back in 10th grade hs]

8/12/2008 11:11:34 AM

the arugula thing is retarded also

omg this guy eats a leafy vegetable thats slightly more expensive than iceberg lettuce



i think when ranking overspending, the $400 haircut is much more excessive than the $520 shoes or "eating arugula"

8/12/2008 11:17:12 AM

^ EXACTLY! If we put it in proportion, a $520 shoe is equivalent to a $80-100 haircut. I can see myself spending $520 on shoes one day, if I earn above a certain threshold of money. But I can never see myself spending $400 on a haircut even if I was Bill Gates.

Quote :

"cause i damn sure know you've paid a lot more for shoes"

Huh? You think someone on TWW has spent >$500 on shoes? I highly doubt it, unless we have some kids here with large inheritances.

8/12/2008 11:55:36 AM

i wouldnt spend that much on shoes even if I had the money to do so but i agree the arugula thing is stupid

[Edited on August 12, 2008 at 11:57 AM. Reason : ]

8/12/2008 11:56:30 AM

So how then is it the right has managed to paint Obama as the elitist and McCain as the common man?

8/12/2008 11:57:26 AM

i dont think either example shows either as an elitist.

[Edited on August 12, 2008 at 11:58 AM. Reason : ]

8/12/2008 11:57:56 AM

^ http://www.crooksandliars.com/Media/Download/30067/2/colbert_elitist_061008.mov

8/12/2008 12:13:40 PM

Quote :

"Huh? You think someone on TWW has spent >$500 on shoes?"

no i meant people have damn sure paid a lot more for a pair of shoes than they have for a haircut...my most expensive haircut i can recall was $15-$20...i've got some $250 dress shoes and plenty of $100-$150 sneakers and boots

8/12/2008 12:15:09 PM

Any 'luxury' item related to personal appearance is truly a horrible example for someone who's career is based off their public image.

I would expect both Edward's shoes and McCain's haircut to run similar price tags. While I find it unlikely that the $520 shoes had a much stronger effect than the $250 shoes, the slightest position of a hair or shoelace as a politician appears on TV would have huge monetary value if quantified. Therefore it makes sense that they would spend a great deal of money on such things.

I, on the other hand, have little career incentive to show my superior some shiny-ass shoes, as well as insufficient financial backing to buy such things.

8/12/2008 12:33:57 PM

Quote :

"I would expect both Edward's shoes and McCain's haircut to run similar price tags."

I would expect neither McCain nor Obama would spend anywhere near $400 on a haircut.

Then again it seems like McCain and Obama are trying to impress the people as a whole, and not just impress the panties off some whore

8/12/2008 12:45:35 PM

^^ Spot on

8/12/2008 1:08:17 PM

Quote :

"Huh? You think someone on TWW has spent >$500 on shoes? I highly doubt it, unless we have some kids here with large inheritances."

you'd be wrong.. you forget a lot of us aren't exactly poor college kids anymore

8/12/2008 1:12:11 PM

^ not to mention there are enough females around that would spend that much on shoes regardless of economics.

8/12/2008 1:20:35 PM

exactly haha

8/12/2008 1:26:22 PM

well im not certainly not poor, but $500 shoes?? I think the most I have spent was $110 on anything other than athletic shoes (dont underestimate the difference between a cheap and expensive wrestling shoe ). But I know everyone is different and willing to spend money on different things.

[Edited on August 12, 2008 at 1:37 PM. Reason : ]

8/12/2008 1:35:41 PM

Quote :

"I would expect neither McCain nor Obama would spend anywhere near $400 on a haircut."

Let me outline the haircut options around NCSU campus:
The old men "get it done" place: about $20 after tip (maybe you could get out with less, I just hand them a 20)
The nice place near Player's Retreat: about $50 after tip for a haircut, as they offer many other services that cost more.

You can go as low as $10 without just doing it yourself, but the latter of these two demonstrates a common place where lots of people go to get a $100 head service ( ). Granted, those people are probably solidly in the 1st and 2nd quintiles of American wealth, but as McCain would be in the elite 1%, he may or may not get his hair cut with those 6-figure salary commoners.

Frugal rich people don't really need to bloat the price of such common needs, and many don't. But for someone in McCain's position, if we're taking bets, $400 would be average to high and nowhere near

8/12/2008 1:41:46 PM

I think the point about someone being on camera and being really anal about their appearance would think $400 for a hair cut was no big deal. And, if I am not mistaken, weren't these cuts in the big city (LA or NYC?), where you're obviously paying inflated prices for boutique services like this?

8/12/2008 1:57:45 PM

If memory serves correctly, it was by his chapel hill hair dresser he had flown into LA to do with hair cut.

8/12/2008 2:04:08 PM

Here we go

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,266710,00.html

Quote :

"WASHINGTON — Looking pretty is costing John Edwards' presidential campaign a lot of pennies. The Democrat's campaign committee picked up the tab for two haircuts at $400 each by celebrity stylist Joseph Torrenueva of Beverly Hills, Calif., according to a financial report filed with the Federal Election Commission."

8/12/2008 2:08:19 PM

nevermind then.

8/12/2008 2:11:45 PM

so in other words, he paid more for the plane tickets than for the haircut.

8/12/2008 3:25:57 PM

Quote :

"But I can never see myself spending $400 on a haircut even if I was Bill Gates."

Bill Gates agrees.

8/12/2008 3:32:22 PM

Quote :

"so in other words, he paid more for the plane tickets than for the haircut."

so it wasn't an expensive haircut because it cost less than an airline ticket...ok

nobody is saying someone in his position couldn't afford a $400 haircut more than you and I, what we're saying is that its a waste

also this is pretty hilarious

Quote :

"FEC records show Edwards also availed himself of $250 in services from a trendy salon and spa in Dubuque, Iowa, and $225 in services from the Pink Sapphire in Manchester, N.H., which is described on its Web site as "a unique boutique for the mind, body and face" that caters mostly to women."

[Edited on August 12, 2008 at 3:48 PM. Reason : quote]

8/12/2008 3:36:20 PM

Who the fuck who thinks they can run a whole damn country ISN'T elitist!!!???

Can you imagine walking down the street with your friend, him stopping, looking up and around, then saying "I'm gonna run ALL this shit, the WHOLE DAMN COUNTRY."

-- Chris Rock

8/12/2008 3:55:32 PM

especially someone who wants to do it at such a young age

8/12/2008 3:58:12 PM

^^^ $400 isn't that much compared to flying a professional all the way across the fucking country. I'm not trying to make a statement about Edward's wastefulness, I'm just saying that the way they're reporting this $400 doesn't make that much sense, some reasons would be that

1. That's not that much for someone with Edward's worth to spend for a haircut
2. The issue of the price is small compared to the fact that he would fly someone out from LA to do it

Everyone knows Edward's is a pretty boy, it's not particularly surprising to me that he metros it up like he's a member of 'N Sync.

[Edited on August 12, 2008 at 4:02 PM. Reason : ]

8/12/2008 4:01:44 PM

I think the biggest gripe about the $400 was that it didn't come out of his own pocket.

8/12/2008 4:27:45 PM