Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Here 'Tis.



For those of you not familiar with Sharp As Toast.com, I will tell you this is an important shirt. This is the first shirt we have done involving a living person, much less someone who is not yet President. Since Barackstar is the candidate of the T-shirt generation, we thought it appropriate. This shirt is not quite up for sale yet, but it should be in the next few days. Mens shirt in navy, and the ladies are in blue.

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

He called it


The Barackstar correctly predicted last Sunday's Bears triumpth. His prediction bested most of the "gym teachers in ties" that predicted the Saints would win.

Where was Hillary on the game? We didn't hear a peep from the Chicago suburbian native. I am sure Fox is diggin deeper on this story as we speak.

Monday, January 22, 2007

First Primary Battleground: Hollywood


The Barackstar and Billary are all over the new Democratic base: Hollywood.

The "solid south."

The rust belt.

And now Hollywood.

The late showing of "Bobby" will be sure to help the Barackstar. Perhaps a screen test will help. This officially makes "Hollywood" the first primary (unofficially) of 2008. Despite all the attempts of Nevada, et. al. to be first, Hollywood has all the states beat.

Saturday, January 20, 2007

Madrassa Drama

It gets even better, Barackstar.

Now the GOP is trying to take you and Hillary out at the same time! This has all the markings of high school gossip.

The truth is, having a President with some understanding and/or experience with the Muslim faith is an overwhelming plus.

Friday, January 19, 2007

He Smokes.


Fox has a new label for the Barackstar. They say he has a "dirty little secret."

This is a wonderful little smear job. Decades from now, when Fox News is actually an upper level college seminar in propaganda, people will laugh uncomfortably at this. I only wish they dressed him up as a cowboy, with a sunset and a horse.

Yep. Barackstar smokes. His smoking can be used to his advantage. And I predict he will make an effort to quit just about the time the primaries begin. Why? People love it when they see a real human. Someone with weakness. Someone we can all identify with. As long as he doesn't get too slick with this, and try to cover it up, I think he'll be all the better for it.


"The smallness of our politics"


He begins with a great idea: the smallness of our politics. Hear it from the Barackstar himself.

My review. Three stars. He looks casual and confident. I think when he goes official in February he should wear a tie (maybe borrow a bow-tie from the Paul Simon museum). I can't make out what is in the background. I think it is either a railing to a balcony with a nice view (a bit Republican), or one of those collapsible clothes drying racks (a working man). By the looks of the curtain and the artwork, I'd say a nice hotel suite.

Oh, and he makes good sense with his speech. Very awesome.

A word of advice: use the ears to your advantage, Barackstar.

At some point he's going to have to show some self-depreciation here. Maybe draw attention to them. A special, larger pair of earmuffs that say "Barackstar" on them? Maybe casually pull out a giant Q-tip on the campaign bus in front of reporters? Or a set of huge Barackstar ear buds for his iPod?

Yep. Go through all of it with a knowing smile, Barackstar. People love evidence that the guy in the spotlight is an actual human. That he is having fun.

Did I mention my shirt? It will be ready in a week. Promise.

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Clooney: Barackstar is "the most electrifying thing since JFK"


Barackstar begins.

And he's starting his Presidential explorations in the trenches of Hollywood. Advice: Barackstar, you are nobody in California without a good T-shirt. Might I suggest the one I will shamelessly plug for the next 2 years to the world?

Barackstar, you take Hollywood.

Myself, I am starting the campaign with poor hipsters: the "T-shirt people." This isn't really coordinated with the home office. I am a rogue campaign machine. I mean, why take the time to contact your office and do a bunch of boring stapling? I figure I will set up my own campaign office right here. This is Web 2.0, right? Time Magazine told me I could do just about anything from a keyboard. So I will.

I have high expectations for this T-shirt. I have been slinging political-history T-shirts for three years now at Sharpastoast.com with my 85 year-old mentor, James Lawrence Toast. We've sold plenty of humorous Taft ("Can You Dig it?") and Coolidge ("Keep it Coolidge") wares, but not nearly enough to get a knock at the door from Google to buy me out. So with 2008 looming, I have decided to use my T-shirt Jones to do the best I can to support Barackstar.

There is something else though. Sharp As Toast was originally created to inspire younger folk to take an interest in politics. I figured if I could get my friends to wear shirts that depicted Polk ("If it ain't Polk don't fix it") and Reagan ("Kick a Commie for Ronnie"), that we'd be closer to the voting booth. So far, it hasn't worked out that way.

This is then part of a different strategy. Use a T-shirt to directly spread the good word about the new JFK.