The 2020 Political Merch Wars Have Begun
A red hat changed the game in 2016. Now political swag isn’t just about who you support, but who you are.
On October 13, Anthony Scaramucci, the short-lived, former White House communications director, launched the website Mitt2020.org, dipping his toe in to test the waters of a non-existent presidential run neither he or Mitt Romney had no real stake in. The site only offers one thing: T-shirts with phrases like “Mitt Happens,” “Commit to Mitt,” and “Romney Trumps Trump!” all surprisingly well-designed, with a retro vibe that evokes the 1980s campaigns of Jesse Jackson or Ronald Reagan. Scaramucci, who has pivoted to being an outspoken critic of his former boss, said he created the website in order to “test demand” for the last, kinda-sorta reasonable Republican’s bid for the presidency. The fact that Romney likely will not participate in another failed run for president is beside the point. There’s always money in political merch, even if the candidate is imaginary.
Political merchandising and memorabilia has been a part of American political life for hundreds of years. William Henry Harrison’s 1840 presidential run was one of the first fully branded campaigns, taking the log cabin as its symbol, building pop-up cabins across the country where supporters could buy…
