Teh One Who Knocks
03-26-2012, 10:05 PM
Louisville company looks to tap into GOP's distaste
Written by Joseph Gerth - The Courier-Journal
http://i.imgur.com/CGtF3.jpg
Four years ago, Louisville businessman Ted Jackson tried to cover the nation’s car bumpers with “Nobama” stickers, many of which he gave away.
This year, with the presidential election right around the corner and Republican presidential candidates taking whacks at one another while leaving President Barack Obama running in the clear, Jackson is trying to drown the country in “Nobama Water.”
Jackson’s company, the Spalding Group, has started a DefeatObamaStore.com website, where it sells more traditional political gear like campaign buttons, yard signs and T-shirts but where it’s also pushing its latest product.
Nobama Water is a typical bottle of spring water except for the label, which urges drinkers, “Don’t Drink the ‘Cool’ Aid.” The online store offers a single bottle for $1.85, a 4-pack for $6.95 or a 24-bottle case for $29.95.
The Obama campaign did not respond to requests for comment.
“We actually did a Bush water in 2000 and it was really popular,” Jackson said. “We think this can do even better.”
Jackson’s company, which caters solely to Republican candidates and conservative organizations, is hoping it can redirect GOP attention away from the intramural scrimmage among Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul, and toward their common enemy.
“While there is no consensus at this point on the Republican nominee, there is universal agreement within the GOP that President Obama must be defeated in 2012,” the company said in a news release.
Jackson said he expects to be the official supplier to whichever campaign wins the Republican nomination — as he has been since 1984 — but that focusing on beating Obama gives him a market before the Republican National Convention and gives people a way to express their political feelings.
In 2008, the Spalding Group moved hundreds of thousands of Nobama bumper stickers, many of which Jackson gave away to anyone who sent a stamped, self-addressed envelope.
This year, he is marketing Nobama Water largely to state and local GOP groups that can give bottles away at events or use them as fundraisers.
“Young Republicans can sell these things for $5 a bottle. People will buy them,” he said. “It really isn’t water that we’re selling here. It’s a political sense.”
For Jackson, the beauty of the concept is that he thinks it works even if Republicans can’t coalesce behind any one candidate.
“Sometimes, the motivation to beat somebody is greater than the motivation to elect somebody,” said Jackson, who describes the current situation for Republicans as “a mess.”
Written by Joseph Gerth - The Courier-Journal
http://i.imgur.com/CGtF3.jpg
Four years ago, Louisville businessman Ted Jackson tried to cover the nation’s car bumpers with “Nobama” stickers, many of which he gave away.
This year, with the presidential election right around the corner and Republican presidential candidates taking whacks at one another while leaving President Barack Obama running in the clear, Jackson is trying to drown the country in “Nobama Water.”
Jackson’s company, the Spalding Group, has started a DefeatObamaStore.com website, where it sells more traditional political gear like campaign buttons, yard signs and T-shirts but where it’s also pushing its latest product.
Nobama Water is a typical bottle of spring water except for the label, which urges drinkers, “Don’t Drink the ‘Cool’ Aid.” The online store offers a single bottle for $1.85, a 4-pack for $6.95 or a 24-bottle case for $29.95.
The Obama campaign did not respond to requests for comment.
“We actually did a Bush water in 2000 and it was really popular,” Jackson said. “We think this can do even better.”
Jackson’s company, which caters solely to Republican candidates and conservative organizations, is hoping it can redirect GOP attention away from the intramural scrimmage among Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul, and toward their common enemy.
“While there is no consensus at this point on the Republican nominee, there is universal agreement within the GOP that President Obama must be defeated in 2012,” the company said in a news release.
Jackson said he expects to be the official supplier to whichever campaign wins the Republican nomination — as he has been since 1984 — but that focusing on beating Obama gives him a market before the Republican National Convention and gives people a way to express their political feelings.
In 2008, the Spalding Group moved hundreds of thousands of Nobama bumper stickers, many of which Jackson gave away to anyone who sent a stamped, self-addressed envelope.
This year, he is marketing Nobama Water largely to state and local GOP groups that can give bottles away at events or use them as fundraisers.
“Young Republicans can sell these things for $5 a bottle. People will buy them,” he said. “It really isn’t water that we’re selling here. It’s a political sense.”
For Jackson, the beauty of the concept is that he thinks it works even if Republicans can’t coalesce behind any one candidate.
“Sometimes, the motivation to beat somebody is greater than the motivation to elect somebody,” said Jackson, who describes the current situation for Republicans as “a mess.”