McCain Obama T-shirts: D.C. barometer

by John Crewdson

Walter is pretty sure who's going to win the presidential election, and he has a good feel for these things.

Since 1984 Walter has run a souvenir stand -- a cart, really -- parked on the sidewalk in downtown Washington, D.C., across the street from Ford's Theater, where Abraham Lincoln was shot. Ford's Theater is a main tourist destination, so Walter's customers represent a sampling of voting-age men and women from around the country.

In an ordinary year he ekes out a living selling the standard tourist paraphernalia: coffee cups with the FBI seal (FBI headquarters is just down the street) and the ubiquitous tourist T-shirts ("My Mom and Dad visited Washington, D.C. and all I got is this lousy t-shirt").

In a presidential election year, however, the bulk of Walter's business has to do with the campaign--this year, it's T-shirts and buttons bearing pictures of Obama and his Republican rival, John McCain. Until last week, Obama and McCain were selling about 50-50. Then McCain pulled what Walter calls "that stunt," briefly suspending his campaign to return to Washington and help pass the emergency economic assistance legislation. The next day, Walter says, sales of his McCain gear "tanked."

Since then he hasn't sold a single item bearing McCain's picture.

Walter is more worried than most about what will happen on Thursday night when the vice-presidential nominees, Sarah Palin and Joe Biden, square off in their one and only televised debate. If Palin doesn't acquit herself well, Walter says, that's it. He's sending all his McCain items back to the wholesaler rather than let them gather dust and lose money while Obama walks away with the presidency.