California Republicans reach out to women!

[eyeball]

Vendors are there to make money, not as supporters.

So what, it's still a matter of stupid is as stupid does.

[kimmy]

Of course it's not unknown to them any longer since they put a stop to it once they found out about it, but it was unknown to them that there was a vendor who was selling said merchandise until Marinucci tweeted about it. And no, all of the merchandise sold by vendors at such conventions is not vetted nor endorsed by the party.

Buttons like this are manufactured and sold by independent contractors who also sell similar buttons at Democrat gatherings.

These little political button stands are not being operated by people affiliated with the party, neither Republicans nor Democrats.

These button stands are put together by people trying to make some cash selling buttons, not the party folks.

Thanks for the link, Mr Conservative!

He claims that the vendor tables are run by independent salesmen, which I have never disputed. But there's nothing in the whole article that supports your claim that the organizers didn't vet the merchandise. Because he'd be a big fat liar if he did claim that.

State party officials thanked reporter Carla Marinucci for “bringing the matter to our attention,” in an emailed statement to MSNBC.

“The first time CRP leadership and staff became aware of these buttons was as a result of Chronicle reporter Carla Marinucci’s tweet,” said Mark Standriff, Director of Communications for the California Republican Party. “After identifying the vendor who was displaying the buttons, CRP staff had them removed. For your additional information, the vendor had brought only 5 of the buttons to convention, none of which had been sold.”

Of course they said that. It's exactly the kind of thing you'd say in response to a PR debacle like this.

"Gee, we didn't notice! We're sure glad that Carla pointed these buttons out to us and 20,000,000 people on the internet, so that we could remove them before anybody was offended. Because even though this has been incredibly embarrassing to the party, we were glad that we retrieved the 5 buttons before any harm was done. Thank you so much, Carla."

That you are satisfied with your thread title even as you include this as a Republican move says a lot.

I didn't claim this is an action of the Republican Party. I pointed out that even as they pay lip service to the idea of inclusiveness and "reaching out" to voters that can't stand them, they continue to harbor folks like this in their midst. At a vendor table, right next to the VIP area at their convention.

And according to the Salon: The California GOP isn’t represented by every sexist piece of crap some yahoos want to peddle in its name....

The name of the blog is irrelevant. The information is correct. These buttons were not sold nor endorsed by the Republican party.

Edited to add: Romney was criticized because such vendors were barred from the Republican National Convention.

For years at these political conventions, there has been a marketplace set up where merchants sell campaign buttons and all sorts of political memorabilia.

But those vendors are conspicuously absent this week; instead, there is just an official Romney-Ryan store, a monopoly for the campaign.

Californian Robin Abrams from Irvine is selling the wares of Mort Berkowitz, the legendary “button king.” But she has been forced to do it at a hotel 30 miles away from the Tampa convention site, which she said is terrible for business and for the consumer.

How terrible that someone would have to drive 30 miles to get their Mork Berkowitz buttons.

But I bet they didn't have any sexist buttons at that convention. It's almost as if Romney and Ryan were able to prevent dumb-ass yokels from embarrassing the party by not letting dumb-ass yokels peddle crap at the convention. Wow. Mind blowing stuff.

BTW: "Unknown Vendor" no more!

You can now get your "Hillary KFC Special" button, along with your Monica Lewinsky "Democrats Left A Bad Taste In My Mouth" button, a "The Road To Hell Is Paved With Liberals" button, an Elephant Team logo holding a Crucifix, a Bald Eagle holding up its middle claw and saying "Jihad This!", "Pro Life Pro Gun Right Wing Christian Any Questions?" button, and "Sarah Palin's Grandchild For President 2044"

Buy now! Right here at REPUBLICAN MARKET DOT COM!

-k

Edited October 8, 2013 by kimmy

[Shady]

No, I'm quite satisfied with the title the thread has.

The convention was, indeed, touted as a chance reach out to women and minorities. They even brought in the President of the National Republican Women's Association to speak.

They keep paying lip service to the idea of inclusiveness, and they keep getting shot in the foot by dummies within their own ranks.

As Bubber and Bitsy point out, it strains credibility to suggest that the vendor is unknown. Nobody gets a vendor's table at a convention without approval from the organizers, and unless the organizers are completely retarded, they vetted the merchandise.

-k

Somebody may not get a vendor's table at a convention without approval, but the merchandise of every vendor isn't examined beforehand. Surely you must know this. The same can be said of much of the vile merchandise sold at Democrat conventions etc involving George Bush. It's just, your left wing blogs never posted on that.

[Shady]

Thanks for the link, Mr Conservative!

He claims that the vendor tables are run by independent salesmen, which I have never disputed. But there's nothing in the whole article that supports your claim that the organizers didn't vet the merchandise. Because he'd be a big fat liar if he did claim that.

Of course they said that. It's exactly the kind of thing you'd say in response to a PR debacle like this.

"Gee, we didn't notice! We're sure glad that Carla pointed these buttons out to us and 20,000,000 people on the internet, so that we could remove them before anybody was offended. Because even though this has been incredibly embarrassing to the party, we were glad that we retrieved the 5 buttons before any harm was done. Thank you so much, Carla."

I didn't claim this is an action of the Republican Party. I pointed out that even as they pay lip service to the idea of inclusiveness and "reaching out" to voters that can't stand them, they continue to harbor folks like this in their midst. At a vendor table, right next to the VIP area at their convention.

How terrible that someone would have to drive 30 miles to get their Mork Berkowitz buttons.

But I bet they didn't have any sexist buttons at that convention. It's almost as if Romney and Ryan were able to prevent dumb-ass yokels from embarrassing the party by not letting dumb-ass yokels peddle crap at the convention. Wow. Mind blowing stuff.

BTW: "Unknown Vendor" no more!

You can now get your "Hillary KFC Special" button, along with your Monica Lewinsky "Democrats Left A Bad Taste In My Mouth" button, a "The Road To Hell Is Paved With Liberals" button, an Elephant Team logo holding a Crucifix, a Bald Eagle holding up its middle claw and saying "Jihad This!", "Pro Life Pro Gun Right Wing Christian Any Questions?" button, and "Sarah Palin's Grandchild For President 2044"

Buy now! Right here at REPUBLICAN MARKET DOT COM!

-k

How do we know this person isn't come kind of comedian? Cause if there's one thing I've been told, you can say whatever you'd like about anyone, especially conservatives, and you get a pass if you're a comedian. My favourite examples of this are d-bag Dan Savage wanting to hate f*ck Christine O'Donnell, and Bill Maher making jokes regarding the retarded child of Sarah Palin.

[Shady]

This is fun...

You mean like this kind of merchandise kimmy?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LutJD0fVCgc

[kimmy]

This is fun...

You mean like this kind of merchandise kimmy?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LutJD0fVCgc

And if a vendor was selling those T-shirts at a Democrat convention, maybe you'd have a point.

Sexist attacks toward Sarah Palin didn't help the Democrats, they hurt the Democrats. And sexist attacks toward Hillary will hurt the Republicans. Bank on it.

-k

[Shady]

WRONG.

Men are going to have to smarten up and clean it up if they want the votes.

There just aren't enough ignorant asshats

to make a president anymore.

Come'on, ya'll gotta decide if you wanna be equal or not. If you do, than suck it up and grow a pair. Politics ain't for the faint of heart. Men have been called a lot worse, heck, Chris Christie gets his weight mocked all the time. If the worst Hillary has to worry about is having two fat thighs, she's got it easy. I'm just confused as to why people like you and kimmy get a serious case of the vapors in these instances. If ya can dish it out, be prepared to take it. It's called equality.

[Shady]

And if a vendor was selling those T-shirts at a Democrat convention, maybe you'd have a point.

Sexist attacks toward Sarah Palin didn't help the Democrats, they hurt the Democrats. And sexist attacks toward Hillary will hurt the Republicans. Bank on it.

-k

Aww come'on kimmy, you get a case of the vapors over a button created by some dude? You think that's a campaign issue? You think that's a sexist attack? How so? What about Chris Christie's fat thighs and worse? You, and other women gotta grow up a bit. Poilitics is tough. If you don't like it, don't follow it. This is pretty tame. But if it makes you feel better, just pretend he's a comedian, that way he can do and say whatever he wants and it won't be an issue. Heck, he can even donate a million dollars to a campaign just like Bill Maher!!!

[kimmy]

It's 100% fine with me if the Republicans run with this angle from today straight through to election day 2016, Shady. I'm all for it. I encourage it, in fact. I'm really hoping they do.

-k

[Bonam]

I tend to agree with Shady that this is to be expected. Politics is the realm of idiots, insults, and stupidity. These kinds of things are par for the course, whether regarding a male or female politician. That being said, it can definitely backfire, as the media circus covers things arbitrarily, based not on relevance to the national interest but subjective opinions as to what will get ratings, and little non-issues can suddenly steal the national spotlight, while important issues can be forgotten and undiscussed.

Basically, the moment you are following politics, forget any notions of decency, intelligence, relevance, logic, etc, and realize it's a zoo full of monkey's throwing poo at each other, and nothing more.

[Shady]

It's 100% fine with me if the Republicans run with this angle from today straight through to election day 2016, Shady. I'm all for it. I encourage it, in fact. I'm really hoping they do.

-k

You're still saying "Republicans", why? You're being obtuse, is it deliberate?

[kimmy]

I tend to agree with Shady that this is to be expected. Politics is the realm of idiots, insults, and stupidity. These kinds of things are par for the course, whether regarding a male or female politician. That being said, it can definitely backfire, as the media circus covers things arbitrarily, based not on relevance to the national interest but subjective opinions as to what will get ratings, and little non-issues can suddenly steal the national spotlight, while important issues can be forgotten and undiscussed.

Basically, the moment you are following politics, forget any notions of decency, intelligence, relevance, logic, etc, and realize it's a zoo full of monkey's throwing poo at each other, and nothing more.

Nobody's saying the Republican's can't ridicule Hillary's body. Their right to do so is guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States of America. I encourage them to express themselves boldly. Let your freak flag fly, Elephant Team!

You'll notice that it wasn't anybody from Hillary's team who ran around the convention hall looking for the "rogue vendor" when the photo went viral.

It was the event organizers who put the "rogue vendor" out of action.

You and Shady should ponder on the question of why.

-k

[kimmy]

You're still saying "Republicans", why? You're being obtuse, is it deliberate?

You're not sure if the folks at "Republican Market Dot Com" and their customers are Republicans?

-k

[Bonam]

It was the event organizers who put the "rogue vendor" out of action.

You and Shady should ponder on the question of why.

-k

Of course, it is bad publicity for them. That's obvious. I'm just saying it's the norm rather than the exception.

[dre]

The problem is theres more to this than just these buttons.

Theres been a steady string of prominent republicans coming up with odd quotes about women.

Concern for rape victims is a red herring because conceptions from rape occur with approximately the same frequency as snowfall in Miami. - Judge James Leon Holmes, Bush appointee

From what I understand from doctors, that’s really rare,” Akin said. “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. - Tod Akin

The facts show that people who are raped — who are truly raped — the juices don’t flow, the body functions don’t work and they don’t get pregnant. Medical authorities agree that this is a rarity, if ever - Republican Rep. Henry Aldridge

Women should not be allowed on juries where the accused is a stud.”
~Rush Limbaugh

Feminism was established so as to allow unattractive women access to the mainstream of society.
Rush Limbaugh

Socks is the White House cat. But did you know there is also a White House dog?”
~Rush Limbaugh, while holding up a photograph of 13-year-old Chelsea Clinton

Fluke [sic] who goes before a congressional committee and essentially says that she must be paid to have sex — what does that make her? It makes her a slut, right?

~Rush Limbaugh

The republican refuses to disown these nuts who are members of their own party, some of them elected representitives. So they dont have a whole lot of credibility when theyre trying to distance themselves from people like this vendor.

Its one thing to toss out a vendor.... Lets see them boot Tod Akin out of the party, or openly disown Rush Limbaugh as a sexist moron.

Edited October 8, 2013 by dre

[Guest American Woman]

So what, it's still a matter of stupid is as stupid does.

So it's not a matter of them supporting the Republican party, that's "so what."

[Bitsy]

And according to the Salon: The California GOP isn’t represented by every sexist piece of crap some yahoos want to peddle in its name....

To finish the Salon paragraph.........The California GOP isn’t represented by every sexist piece of crap some yahoos want to peddle in its name, and it’s good news that reporter Marinucci later said that “Less than hour after we 1st tweeted, appears offensive #Hillary buttons gone from #cagop. Many here also appalled.” But in the two days since Marinucci first revealed the buttons – two days in which the story has been picked up on HuffPo, Jezebel and Talking Points Memo — the California GOP social media team has not issued any apology or statement of disapproval over the incident — not in its Twitter stream, not in its Facebook page, not on its Web page. It appears no one has officially come forward to say, “This wasn’t us, but it’s still unacceptable.” In their defense, though, they have been very busy blaming Obama for the government shutdown.

http://www.salon.com/2013/10/07/republicans_sexist_anti_hillary_buttons_arent_even_original/singleton/

But those vendors are conspicuously absent this week; instead, there is just an official Romney-Ryan store, a monopoly for the campaign.

Edited to add: Romney was criticized because such vendors were barred from the Republican National Convention.

For years at these political conventions, there has been a marketplace set up where merchants sell campaign buttons and all sorts of political memorabilia.

But those vendors are conspicuously absent this week; instead, there is just an official Romney-Ryan store, a monopoly for the campaign.

Californian Robin Abrams from Irvine is selling the wares of Mort Berkowitz, the legendary “button king.” But she has been forced to do it at a hotel 30 miles away from the Tampa convention site, which she said is terrible for business and for the consumer.

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney is running as a pro-small business candidate.

But KCBS discovered that merchants who normally sell their wares at events like this week’s Republican National Convention in Tampa have been barred from the site by the Romney campaign, which is looking to maximize its own revenues.

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2012/08/30/kcbs-exclusive-small-vendors-barred-from-republican-national-convention-by-romney-campaign/

[BubberMiley]

Somebody may not get a vendor's table at a convention without approval, but the merchandise of every vendor isn't examined beforehand. Surely you must know this.

Of course. They could sell guns, porn, slaves, or weed at the convention, and the people organizing the convention would have no idea.

[Boges]

This thread is becoming tedious. To content that these pins are representative of the GOP would be equally as specious as contending the Westboro Baptist Church is representative of Christianity or saying al Qaeda is representative of Islam.

Rhetoric like these pins might appeal to some, in the base of the GOP. The Tea Party types that believe Obama is a Muslim from Kenya. But I suspect, like Conservatives in Canada, California Republicans have to be a bit more fiscal about their conservatism and leave the social crap out of it.

Edited October 8, 2013 by Boges

[cybercoma]

I didn't claim this is an action of the Republican Party. I pointed out that even as they pay lip service to the idea of inclusiveness and "reaching out" to voters that can't stand them, they continue to harbor folks like this in their midst. At a vendor table, right next to the VIP area at their convention.

-k

Don't waste your time with this kind of nuance. Some people are working with tools that are far too blunt to work with this kind of precision.

[cybercoma]

Politics is the realm of idiots, insults, and stupidity.

Demand better.

[GostHacked]

Demand better.

Yeah, well they are human too right?? I am hoping we elect leaders that are better than us. For example, a finance minister should know more about economics, bookkeeping, balancing budgets, ect ect .. I would HOPE that this person is better at finances than ME, for the fact that person is working on the federal level. Those decisions have huge impact to the nation.

I want someone in office that is better than me for that specific role. Government now seems to be the perfect example of mediocrity rife with corruption, scandals, lies and some sex tapes.

[guyser]

How hard would it be for the Republicans to discover the unknown vendor and how he was able to introduce these buttons into this gathering, instead of the lame excuse they are offering....it doesn't work for me as a 70+ something American

To start with, there is never an unknown vendor. All of them are vetted before they even take one step into the place. Two , they advise what they have and are selling.Three, they have to provide Certificates with their name all over them listing the convention holder and convention building as loss payee.

Now of course the vendor could have said all the right things and still introduced these stupid badges and it takes an hour to have them removed. But I kind of doubt it since the floor manager would have been all over it from the set up on.

Probably took a blind stance to it since it was to their way of thinking amusing.

[Guest American Woman]

...there's nothing in the whole article that supports your claim that the organizers didn't vet the merchandise. Because he'd be a big fat liar if he did claim that.

Really? A big fat liar? I can only assume that you have a source that says all the merchandise is vetted; that every single button that's for sale has been vetted. So source, please.

Of course they said that. It's exactly the kind of thing you'd say in response to a PR debacle like this.

It's exactly the kind of thing you'd say in response if it's true, too.

I didn't claim this is an action of the Republican Party. I pointed out that even as they pay lip service to the idea of inclusiveness and "reaching out" to voters that can't stand them, they continue to harbor folks like this in their midst. At a vendor table, right next to the VIP area at their convention.

You claim the buttons were vetted by the Republican Party, so that's saying the Republican Party gave it's approval.

You can now get your "Hillary KFC Special" button, along with your Monica Lewinsky "Democrats Left A Bad Taste In My Mouth" button, a "The Road To Hell Is Paved With Liberals" button, an Elephant Team logo holding a Crucifix, a Bald Eagle holding up its middle claw and saying "Jihad This!", "Pro Life Pro Gun Right Wing Christian Any Questions?" button, and "Sarah Palin's Grandchild For President 2044"

Buy now! Right here at REPUBLICAN MARKET DOT COM!

You realize that site isn't the Republican party, right? Any idiot can sell crap. Case in point - the Sarah Palin t-shirts. "Sarah Palin: Putting the 'C*nt' back in our Country"

Edited to put a * in "c*nt" even though it's not there on the t-shirts.

Edited October 8, 2013 by American Woman

[Guest American Woman]

Sexist attacks toward Sarah Palin didn't help the Democrats, they hurt the Democrats.

Yep. Hurt them so bad that Obama beat McCain - in spite of his having called Palin a pig.