The American presidential election is also played out through textiles.
One hundred thousand caps with the “Harris Walz” logo sold since the announcement of their candidacy: Near New York, a manufacturer of textile products for American election campaigns is driven by the blinding momentum of the new Democratic “ticket” for the presidential election. “We’ve never seen caps sell so quickly and we’ve been doing promotional items for 24 years,” rejoices Mitch Cahn, general manager of Unionwear, receiving AFP at his textile factory in Newark, an industrial college suburb of New Jersey, west of Manhattan.
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Since President Joe Biden withdrew from the race on July 21 and his Vice President Kamala Harris replaced him, the business executive still can’t believe it: Sales of caps with the “Biden” logo were “anemic” until a new “cap” with a military camouflage design bearing an orange “Harris Walz” inscription was propelled to the rank of the latest trend in the campaign. Mitch Cahn owes his good fortune in part to the very dynamic Governor of Minnesota Tim Walz, who will be Kamala Harris’s running mate if elected on November 5 against Republicans Donald Trump and JD Vance: as soon as he “Weared one of our hats on TV the night he was elected and sales skyrocketed.”
“Not since (the campaign of) Barack Obama (in 2008), have we seen such enthusiasm for a candidate”says the boss among his employees who are running the sewing machines at full speed. Mr. Cahn claims to have for a quarter of a century“worked with all Democratic presidential candidates, including during the primaries (…) and with many Republican candidates.”
“The amount of caps sold in such a short period of time is unheard of,” puts forward the figure of 100,000 pieces in a few weeks. The explosion in demand is such that its staff work up to 60 hours a week, including Saturdays, to cope with the avalanche of orders. The manufacturer even had to quickly invest in additional machines to be able to produce up to 4,000 capsules per day.
The cap is a true traditional item in the United States. The one that really stands out from Unionwear is a high crown style worn in baseball stadiums. The textile workers added a khaki green camouflage print and a fluorescent orange inscription.
A model favored by hunters who represent a huge voting reserve in the United States, as Tim Walz himself reckons, a hunter and for a time supported by the NRA’s firearms lobby. “Sales of derivative products reflect candidate’s popularity and degree of voter attachment”, analyzes Mr. Cahn.
Of course the president “Biden would have earned the votes of his constituents, but with little enthusiasm. They would have voted for him, but without wanting to show his name on their heads. means the manufacturer for whom “The difference between Harris and Biden is that she’s really in tune with (voters) and they’re proud to wear her name on their heads.” Another important detail for the American industrialist: his caps are “made in the USA” in an international context of protecting the manufacturing industry in the United States – many of whose employees vote Trump – in the face of competition from China or Mexico.
Also, Mitch Cahn recalls the 2016 campaign: “Hillary Clinton merchandise sold very poorly even though we thought she would win hands down. (But) she didn’t connect with people like the polls suggested.” Unionwear also made the famous “Make America Great Again” red caps for Donald Trump at the time before they stopped due to competition from producing this item outside the US.