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Etch A Sketch Art

March 23, 2012 by · Comments Off on Etch A Sketch Art 

Etch A Sketch Art, Pushed to the bottom of the toy box by video games and other high-tech gadgets, Etch A Sketch suddenly is drawing lots of attention, thanks to a gaffe that has shaken up the race for the White House.

Ohio Art Co., maker of the classic baby boomer toy, is sending a big box of Etch A Sketches to the presidential campaigns to say thanks for the publicity and a boost in sales.

It all started when Mitt Romney strategist Eric Fehrnstrom was asked Wednesday about the candidate’s politics now versus next fall, and he likened the campaign to an Etch A Sketch: “You can kind of shake it up and we start all over again.”

Democrats and Republicans alike seized on the remark as evidence Romney is a flip-flopper willing to alter his positions for political gain.

GOP rival Newt Gingrich told voters in Louisiana that “having an Etch A Sketch as your campaign model raises every doubt about where we’re going.”

Rick Santorum brandished an Etch A Sketch and told voters he is a candidate who stands “firmly on the rocks of freedom, not on the sands of an Etch A Sketch toy.” Santorum’s staff also handed out miniature Etch A Sketches to reporters.

While Romney’s opponents hope the remark will erase his momentum and reframe the debate, the biggest winner might be Ohio Art.

Its stock, which trades over the counter, almost tripled Thursday, closing at $9.65, and major stores reported a jump in sales, chairman Bill Killgallon said.

Etch A Sketch

March 22, 2012 by · Comments Off on Etch A Sketch 

Etch A Sketch, Mitt Romney headed to the nation’s capital Thursday to raise money for his front-running Republican presidential campaign, buoyed by recent primary wins and a key endorsement but also facing fallout from a top adviser’s gaffe.

A Wednesday comment on CNN by Eric Fehrnstrom, Romney’s senior campaign adviser, provided top rivals Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich with new ammunition to attack the former Massachusetts governor over shifting stances on issues such as health care and abortion during his career.

Fehrnstrom said the campaign will “hit a reset button” to take on President Barack Obama in the fall if Romney wins the GOP nomination, adding “it’s almost like an Etch A Sketch — you can kind of shake it up, and we start all over again.”

The comment, in response to a question about whether Romney had to adopt conservative stances in the Republican campaign that could hurt him with moderates in November, brought immediate attacks from Romney’s two main conservative rivals.

A new website unveiled Thursday by the Gingrich campaign features the Fehrnstrom quote above an Etch A Sketch that highlights Romney’s policy shifts when viewers hit a prompt labeled “shake.” Written on the drawing toy is “Mitt’s Etch A Sketch Principles.”

“You could not have found a more perfect illustration of why people distrust Romney than to have his (adviser) say that the Etch A Sketch allows you to erase everything in the general election,” Gingrich said Wednesday. “You have to read the guy’s quote to realize — if he had set out to highlight for everybody why we distrust Romney, I think he couldn’t have done a better job.”

Santorum also jumped at the opportunity. His campaign posted a photo on Twitter of the candidate using an Etch A Sketch, saying it showed him “studying up on (Romney’s) policy positions.”

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