Etch-A-Sketch Romney

Etch-A-Sketch Romney, SHARES in the company that makes Etch A Sketch have tripled in value, a day after the humble toy was thrust into the centre of US politics.

The Ohio Art Company, which makes the children’s iconic drawing device, saw its shares increase as much as 213 per cent overnight after a key aide to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney made an ill-thought reference to the toy.

Asked if Mr Romney had tacked too far to the right to win over non-Republican voters, long-standing adviser Eric Fehrnstrom said the general election campaign would be “almost like an Etch A Sketch. You can kind of shake it up and restart all over again”.

That reinforced core Republican doubts about Mr Romney’s conservative credentials, and overshadowed his key win in Illinois and his endorsement by Republican bigwig Jeb Bush.

But the Ohio Art Company tried to make hay out of Mr Romney’s woes.

The company said it was “happy to see Etch A Sketch, an American classic toy, is DRAWING attention with political candidates as a cultural icon and important piece of our society”.

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.”