In first quarter, Palin spent more on consultants than candidates

Not that Sarah Palin's supporters care, but between the leak of her speaking contract and this dig by Reid Wilson (and others) into her FEC reports, this has been a pretty lousy week for her real-American cred.

Palin's PAC spent $409,000, dispensing only $9,500 to specific candidates. Among the expenses bigger than that: $18,000 to consultant Pamela Pryor, $20,000 in media consulting from Alaska's IzzyLene Consulting, and $30,000 to consultant Randy Scheunemann's Orion Strategies.

Among the numbers that jumped out at me: $1,718.51 for food from GOP fundraiser B.C. "Scooter" Clippard, $7,321.65 for de-icing a plane, and $893.02 for her stay at the Gaylord Opryland for the National Tea Party Convention.

At that convention, Palin suggested that her $100,000 speaking fee would go back into the movement. As Wilson points out, there is no evidence of that in these reports.