Bags, buttons and beyond: Campaign wares go digital
Corrections & Clarifications: An earlier version of this report misstated the political party whose nomination Bernie Sanders wants.
BURLINGTON, Vt. — The digital "For Sale" sign is out at the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign.
And the newly announced Democratic candidate is not alone in offering supporters a range of products online from the basic to the offbeat. Sanders opened his store this week, offering a range of products from T-shirts and coffee mugs to bulk packs of yard signs.
"Made and printed in the USA," boasts the product description on each of the two shirts for sale — one light blue, the other white. "Union-printed in the USA. Car safe! Outdoor durable for 3-5 years," reads the description on the bumper stickers.
Sanders, who remains an independent senator from Vermont but is seeking the Democratic nomination for president, joins a narrow slice of the already packed 2016 presidential field by jumping into merchandising. Only six of the 14 declared candidates on the Democratic and Republican sides are hawking buttons and hats through official online outlets as of Thursday afternoon.
Plenty of unofficial vendors are on the Web and at campaign events.
When Sanders had his kickoff last week at Burlington's Waterfront Park, one man drove from Florida to sell buttons to the crowd of 5,000 to 6,000 supporters. Another came from Montpelier with a rack of hand-screened T-shirts.
No official merchandise was for sale that day.
Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton has a comprehensive official online shop where supporters can select from 32 products, starting at $5. It has traditional items such as shirts and stickers along with a number of unique offerings that include a onesie for those who haven't quite reached voting age and a throw pillow for $55 that proclaims, "A woman's place is in the White House."
A section of merchandise is geared toward "Pride" and features shirts, stickers and buttons in rainbow colors.
Like Sanders' site, Clinton's also proclaims a made-in-America and union pedigree for much of the merchandise.
On the Republican side, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., might have the most extensive and elaborate online store of all. His site sells dozens of items across a host of categories — "fun stuff," "car decor" and "Hillary" sections join the more traditional categories of apparel and signs.
Among the highlights from the ophthalmologist's campaign: an autographed eye chart for a $500 campaign contribution and a signed copy of the Constitution for a cool $1,000.
Paul also offers some novelties including an "NSA Spy Cam Blocker" — a $15 cover for webcams on laptop computers — and "Hillary's Hard Drive," a computer drive for $99.95 that represents a swipe at the former secretary of state's use of a private email server to conduct government business.
Supporters of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee can browse 27 offerings, while Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has 23 items in his online store. Rick Perry, the former Texas governor, just jumped into the race Thursday and promptly unveiled a bare-bones shop with four products.
As with the Democrats, the Republican stores also promote Made in the USA — but there's hardly a mention of the word "union."
The candidates without stores are Democrats Lincoln Chafee and Martin O'Malley, and Republicans Ben Carson, Carly Fiorina, Lindsey Graham, George Pataki, Marco Rubio and Rick Santorum.
Back at the virtual Sanders storefront, shoppers can choose from 18 items. The least expensive is $5, which can score a button, a bumper sticker or a rally sign. T-shirts go for $15 to $21. The scale tops out at $225, which gets buyers a pack of 25 white or blue "Bernie 2016" yard signs.
A Sanders campaign spokesman did not respond to email this week asking about the store.