Posted on 09/12/2010 8:49:16 AM PDT by tlb
Souvenir vendors in Washington say once-thriving sales of the garish merchandise fawning over the president are nowhere near what they were.
In Union Station, the souvenir shop once dubbed the Obama Store because of its mostly Obama-related selection has closed.
"That moment in history is gone," said Molly Andolina, a professor of political science at DePaul University, in the president's adopted home town of Chicago. "You're going to only see the enthusiasts" continue to buy, she said.
Using merchandise sales as a measure of public opinion is anything but definitive. The downward trend in sales could simply mean that the market has been exhausted: How many Obama shirts can one person own, anyway?
The trend in sales, however, does mirror the trend in the president's popularity.
"Bottom line: Obama is not doing well," Scott Keeter, director of survey research for the Pew Research Center, said of the president's standing with independents.
The change in Obama's political fortunes led Tini Cherkaoui, manager of Discount Souvenirs and Novelties in the District, to alter her inventory. The merchandise touting hope and "Change We Can Believe" has been replaced by items taunting those themes.
"It used to be that anything Obama -- it was just hot," she said, as a group of tourists wearing anti-Obama T-shirts milled around on the sidewalk. "Now, they're just against Obama."
A life-size poster of a smiling Obama used to bring people up to the store to take their picture with the "president," and often lead them to buy a little piece of the Obama moment to take home, Cherkaoui said. Then customers started making derisive comments about the president, and the Obama that once brought in business is now stowed away in the storage room.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
They were standard US coins with Obama decals applied.
Maybe he could sell me and Mohammad dolls complete with bended knees in various poses..
Now that you mention it, I haven’t seen those commemorative plates at Walgreens for a while. I’d imagine that the idiots that bought them have taken them down from the display shelf.
I’m still looking for a good deal on a Obama lawn jockey.
Obama merchandise has gone from being used for hero worship to being used for target practice.
As Obama's popularity drops, so do sales of some of his merchandise *
* Made your headline more accurate
All the vendors at IAD (Dulles Washington Airport) are featuring “Miss me yet?” stuff.
Howz about a mass burning of Obama junk-O-phanalia on the mall after the loon looses his Orks in congress?
What would you give to own a case of Billy beer in unopened, mint condition right now?
By that I mean, own it for the purposes of selling it on eBay.
Will Obama fans be looking for a refund to help them get by in the hood?
Obama’s image would be good for target practice. Rev up the darts for your new dart board!
I would expect that sales of Obama Wipe are doing exceptionally well.
Your supermarket awaits
http://www.wholesalecentral.com/SearchResults.htm?sas=0&searchstr=Obama&action=Find!
LOL!!!!
Now you can get things cheap ... no doubt about it ... but we refuse to have evil in our house. Oh, I'm sure some seeps in but Obama is a clear personification of EVIL.
Does this mean he won’t get a third term by proclamation?
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