A Kansas City TV station is reporting that a local printing company has produced bumper stickers that say “Obama/Bayh ’08.” And they have the photo to prove it.
No guarantees, obviously. But in the past, campaign merchandise has been an accurate indicator—more accurate than tips, at least. In 2004, word of John Edwards’ nomination first leaked on an aviation blog when someone saw new decals being applied to the Kerry airplane. Meanwhile, a source told the New York Post that Kerry had picked Dick Gephardt, resulting in this embarrassing cover .
If true, this confirms a few other big hints. A few days back, the Nashville Post reported that Obama had a “major event” planned for Saturday in Indiana, Bayh’s home state. (The event is actually in Springfield, Ill.) Thursday night, asked if he had any news, Bayh replied, “Not tonight.” He was coy again today: “It’s not mine to report,” he said .
Who knows, maybe the Obama campaign is printing Obama/Bayh bumper stickers just to throw everyone off the scent. But that hardly seems worth the cost. Marc Ambinder thinks the sticker is “too ugly to be official.” (It’s true: Compare it to this specimen .) But maybe they had to rush the design. Or maybe campaign stickers are now like Super Bowl jerseys—they print a set for every victory scenario. If so, look forward to seeing “Obama/Sebelius ‘08” T-shirts cropping up in Haiti this winter.
Update 12:49 a.m.: You thought we were joking – apparently the Obama campaign does print stickers with the names of other potential running mates . (It’s not clear if they produced these stickers.) Maybe they’ll send the counterfactual memorabilia to Haiti after all. Or better yet, to all the small donors who paid for them …
