In a field of 18 men and women running for their party's nomination for president of the United States, candidates will do anything to stand out. That includes slapping their logo or likeness on eclectic swag.
However, not all of the candidates are tapping into the American capitalistic consciousness. Chris Christie, Carly Fiorina, Jim Gilmore, Lindsey Graham, Bobby Jindal and George Pataki are all going on without running a campaign store. Who can blame them, though? Making swag requires both cash and creativity.
It is important to note that when you buy a piece of swag from a candidate, it is considered a campaign contribution. It does not matter how much it cost the campaign itself to produce the item, what you pay is what you contribute. From the Federal Elections Commission:
If you pay $15 for a T-shirt sold by a campaign, your contribution amounts to $15 (even though the T-shirt may have cost the committee $5).
Individuals may only donate up to $2,700 per election to a candidate or their campaign committee. Worth noting here is that per election is an important distinction. That individual amount will reset when the actual presidential race begins — it is currently primary election season.
Also worth mentioning: if you spend more than $200 to a campaign, the campaign is required to disclose that you are a donor in a financial report to the FEC.
That means your donation, including your name, address, occupation and employer, as well as the date and amount of your contribution will become public record.
Now that all that fun knowledge is out of the way, here, listed alphabetically, are some pieces of presidential swag from the 2016 crop of candidates:
Jeb(!) Bush
Jeb(!)'s offerings cater to various crowds, but he has some selections that seem targeted at the guacamole eating millennials of America who like drinking out of mason jars and wearing old photographs of politicians on their tank tops.
Ben Carson
Just because Halloween is gone doesn't mean you can't dress up as Ben Carson, Pediatric Neurosurgeon and Presidential Candidate. His campaign is also partial to Lands End brand apparel and offers several branded items.
Hillary Clinton
Hillary's campaign is awfully punny with its product names. Many items are targeted toward minority groups such as women, Hispanics and the LGBT crowd. She's also leaning into the whole pantsuit thing by making a t-shirt version for ladies (or men) who prefer to wear their professional attire screen printed on a shirt. Unfortunately, the Hillary campaign is not offering her signature sunglasses.
Ted Cruz
Ted Cruz, the Texas firebrand Senator, is playing up his bad-boy image this campaign season. He is offering a poster titled "Blacklisted & Loving It" created by Sabo, a Los Angeles-based artist who created the image to support Cruz and the artist's own conservative ideals. For the less "prison body" inclined, Cruz offers a coloring book and a bumper sticker for right turners.
Mike Huckabee
The Huckabee campaign is taking a firm, superhero-esque stand against Hillary Clinton this season. They are also very into declaring why the wearer of one T-shirt is a Republican.
John Kasich
John Kasich's 2016 line is a reserved collection with lots of navy, red and white. He is putting his best Polo by Ralph Lauren-foot forward in logo placement on most of the shirts.
Martin O'Malley
Democratic candidate Margin O'Malley is trailing behind Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, but he is differentiating himself using one clear and present difference: the apostrophe. In the crowded presidential field, he is the only candidate who can claim it as part of his name. You don't get cooler than when they use punctuation to help rebuild the American dream.
Rand Paul
Rand Paul's campaign has some of the most wonderfully random swag. Multiple styles of beer stein, a bag toss game for when you're drinking out of your Rand Paul stein, and a Hillary's hard drive to save the emails about the fun you were having so the NSA can spy on you. He's also pre-made some cutouts of his face for you to wave at campaign events.
Marco Rubio
Remember when you read about how your purchases could be publicly disclosed? Marco Rubio's campaign is encouraging you to buy him a plane ticket guaranteeing that you'll be honored on an FEC filing report. At that point you might as well declare that you're voting for him by saying so on your infant's clothes too.
Bernie Sanders
The crew at Bernie Sanders' campaign is pushing their Brooklyn-style onto the world. Tote bags abound for you to carry the progressive agenda with your groceries. They also want to make sure that you know you'll really "feel the bern" if you drink your coffee or tea too fast.
Rick Santorum
Freedom eagles for everyone from Rick Santorum! He's keeping it simple and full of majestic symbols of freedom for his 2016 campaign.
Donald Trump
You too can be HUGE this campaign season by sporting the Donald Trump hat. It is available in three colors: You guessed it, red white and blue. The campaign is not offering the "Sexy Donald Trump" outfit, but you're more than welcome to Trump your cat too.
Bonuses!!!
Raygun, a Des Moines, Iowa, based T-shirt company released this Bernie Sanders Sublimation shirt. The company is leading the way in funny political shirt making. Earlier this year they released a line for political reporters coming to town to cover the caucuses. One example says "Rock out with your caucus out." Doesn't get better than that, folks.
If you're into the Donald Trump hat style, but are more supportive of Texas' efforts to become an independent national once again, then Texas Humor's "Make Texas a Country Again" hat will fit the bill. They also are offering the cap in three colors for proud Texans of all stripes.
