What's next, a garage sale?
Got an old bike in the garage? Some knick-knacks in the attic? A skeleton in the closet -- oh, wait, maybe not that. But some unused glassware in the back of the top shelf in the kitchen -- that would work.
Mitt Romney wants you to sell that old stuff online and pass the proceeds to his campaign (and you have to hope that, if he wins, he'll keep the theme going and have a White House yard sale). Naturally, the Democratic National Committee was happy to point out this little fundraising gambit to anyone who might have missed it -- and now offers its own Romney package for sale on eBay.
Which of course raisies all sorts of potential for the other candidates to raise cash in unconventional ways. After all, we are a consumer society. So who has what to sell, beyond power and influence? Maybe Hillary Clinton can sell the first birthday card Bill sent her after, well, you know. Maybe Rudy Giuliani can sell his signed divorce decrees (volume reduces the per-unit value). Has John Edwards got an old hairbrush somewhere awaiting entry into the eBay world?
Any suggestions? Please post 'em below. Really. And sorry, but you don't get a piece of the action.
-- Scott Martelle
Andrew Malcolm's immigrant parents repeatedly stressed the importance of active participation in a democracy. Early lessons included learning the alphabetical list of states by watching televised roll calls of national political conventions. That childhood exposure led to a lifelong fascination with politics, including 40-plus years of covering them and a brief stint practicing them as press secretary to Laura Bush in 1999-2000. A veteran foreign and national correspondent, Malcolm served on the Times Editorial Board and was a Pulitzer finalist in 2004. He is the author of 10 nonfiction books and father of four.
Johanna Neuman is a veteran Washington correspondent for both The Los Angeles Times and USA Today, having covered presidents and politics as far back as Ronald Reagan. A former president of the White House Correspondents Assn., she authored a book on media and foreign policy, “Lights, Camera, Wars.” Most recently she was co-author of the 
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How about selling grandma's old dentures? It might help us get decent health care!
Posted by: Jed | November 10, 2007 at 12:51 PM
maybe it's already happening... check out this photo of Hillary's awesome yard sale...
http://bp3.blogger.com/_wkdvV7sXBmw/RzTijiQT26I/AAAAAAAAAQ0/QYEEtZoRDhM/s1600-h/hillsale.jpg
you may need to cut and paste the link...
Posted by: Circa Bellum | November 12, 2007 at 09:39 AM
How about All the corporatist candidates just remove the facade and admit their candidacies are for sale to the highest bidder? The Ultimate Yard Sale (eBay) would be just the perfect host for it, and we can auction them off, with proceeds to their campaigns. At least it'd be honest...and Dr. Paul wouldn't be there because he's not for sale!
Posted by: Tannim | November 15, 2007 at 11:40 AM