My daughter is living with us while trying to clear up some persistent medical problems.

I had to say that to explain why in the last year I have found myself watching TV programs I would otherwise not have known existed. She watches them and has drawn me in.

One of these programs is a series involving very rich "housewives" in various U.S. locales. One series was in Los Angeles, another in New York and the current one is in Atlanta.

Having a lot of money to spend doesn't jibe with my definition of a housewife, but then I didn't have a say in the naming of the shows.

Anyway, these women see nothing wrong with shopping sprees in which a couple of items can cost $10,000. On the show recently, one woman bought a purse for more than $3,000, and another bought four or five pairs of shoes for $6,500.

I've often told my daughter that even if I had the kind of discretionary cash the housewives have, I couldn't bring myself to spend it on such superficial items. My fingers tremble when I have to write a check for something necessary like car insurance on five automobiles.

With that in mind, I found myself wondering what the big deal was for the Republican National Committee to spend $150,000 through September for Alaskan governor and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's clothes, accessories, hair and makeup.

According to financial disclosure records, the RNC spent $75,063 at Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis; $49,426 at Saks Fifth Avenue in St. Louis and New York; $9,478 at Macy's in Minneapolis; and $5,100 at Bloomingdales in New York. An additional $5,000 went to a men's clothing store and a baby clothing store. Hair and makeup cost $4,716 during that same month.

I think Palin looks quite good in her clothing, and her hair and makeup are spot-on all the time. So the investment seems to be paying off.

Plus — let's speak frankly, ladies — if Palin appeared at stump location after stump location wearing some of those outfits she was pictured wearing in Alaska, some of us would be talking more about that than about the words coming out of her mouth.

You know that.

Read the complete commentary at kentucky.com