Day: March 22, 2012

1,556% – How Much Etch A Sketch Sales Are Up in 24 Hours

Trish

Etch A Sketch

What’s all bad for Mitt Romney is all good for the makers of the Etch A Sketch. In the time since Romney adviser Eric Fehrnstrom opined the following on CNN, sales are through the roof.

“I think you hit a reset button for the fall campaign. Everything changes. It’s like Etch A Sketch; you can shake it up and we start all over again.”

Romney, of course, has been accused of doing a lot of starting over, so the Etch A Sketch reference might not have been the best one to make in discussing the candidate’s strategy. But knowing this guy is a Romney “adviser” explains a lot about why the Republican front runner can’t seem to go a whole week without some kind of whopper blooper. Lord help us if he wins and takes this talent global.

But some positive is coming from Ferhnstrom’s remarks.

Although the Etch A Sketch — available since 1960 — had the biggest percentage increase in the past day, it ranks just number 91 among all toys Thursday, up from number 1,507.

Sales figures aren’t the only numbers to elevate. Etch A Sketch makers Ohio Arts Company saw its stock triple Thursday morning, Bloomberg reports.

We suggest that Romney’s folks check the Amazon listing for the magic drawing machine. When we did, we found the image shown.

Why Is Romney So Unpopular?

Buck Banks

Since 1976, no serious contender, Democrat or Republican, has watched his favorable ratings fall as low as Romney’s have in recent months. Or watched his unfavorable ratings climb as high. Or watched his overall numbers stay underwater — that is, more unfavorable than favorable — for so long. At this rate, Romney is shaping up to be the most unpopular presidential nominee on record.

— Andrew Romano, writing in The Daily Beast.

Florida GOP Trying to Boost Governor’s Image

Buck Banks

When was the last time a state party tried to boost a governor’s image with a TV ad more than two years before he faces reelection? … Some Republicans are concerned Scott could drag down the presidential ticket in the swing state.

— The Hotline, noting that the Florida Republican party has made a “very substantial” television ad buy touting Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s (R) record as he seeks to recover from dismal approval numbers.

Group That Promotes ‘Stand Your Ground’ Laws Reportedly Funded by Microsoft, Amazon, Dell, AT&T, Dozens More

Jon Ponder

map-states-w-stand-yr-ground-laws

It has rightly become the subject of outrage nationwide that George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer in Sanford, Fla., was not arrested last month after he allegedly stalked and killed a teenager, Trayvon Martin, whom Zimmerman apparently believed to be a neighborhood prowler.

Zimmerman is free because of a “Stand Your Ground” law in Florida that grants anyone who feels threatened with the right to hurt or kill anyone whom they perceive to be dangerous, regardless of whether the purportedly threatening person is armed. Trayvon Martin, for example, was carrying a package of Skittles and an iced tea.

USA Today reports that “Stand Your Ground” laws have been passed in 21 states:

[…]

Romney Praises Bailing out ‘Too Big to Fail’ Banks, Credits Bush with Saving U.S Economy

Jon Ponder

The teavangelical base of the Republican Party are going to love this latest assertion from their party’s putative nominee:

Mitt Romney offered an unprompted defense of the 2008 Wall Street bailout on Wednesday, crediting President George W. Bush and the preceding administration for averting an economic depression.

Answering a question during a campaign event in Maryland, Romney both condemned the 2009 bailout of troubled automakers engineered by President Obama while praising the Troubled Asset Relief Program authorized in fall of 2008 to prop up the financial services industry.

“There was a fear that the whole economic system of America would collapse — that all of our banks, or virtually all, would go out of business,” Romney said. “In that circumstance, President Bush and Hank Paulson said we’ve got to do something to show we’re not going to let the whole system go out of business. I think they were right. I know some people disagree with me. I think they were right to do that.”

Gas Prices and Drilling Don’t Add Up

Buck Banks

15%

Amount since 2009 that gas prices have increased despite the ramp-up in American drilling. An exhaustive analysis by the Associated Press shows no statistical correlation between how much oil comes out of U.S. wells and the price at the pump. In fact, Since 1976, the average monthly gas price, adjusted for inflation, during Democratic presidencies has been $2.25; under Republicans it’s been $2.34.