On Martha’s Vineyard, ‘Miss Me Yet?’ Bush T-Shirts Outselling ‘I Vacationed with Obama’ Ones

Picking up on a nugget (my tweet) surprisingly included in a Wednesday Boston Globe article, on Thursday night FNC’s Bret Baier reported in his “Grapevine” segment: “President Bush is apparently more popular than President Obama on Martha's Vineyard – at least when it comes to clothing.” Baier relayed the day the First Family arrived on the Massachusetts island:

When the First Family vacationed there last year, Obama-themed trinkets were flying off the shelves. Now, the owner of a store called the Locker Room says this summer's best-selling shirt features Mr. Bush. And even Democrats are buying it. It reads: “Miss Me Yet? How's that Hopey-Changey Thing Working Out for Ya?”

In an August 18 Globe story, “Vineyard buzzes less for Obamas’ second visit,” Milton J. Valencia reported on the Oak Bluffs store:

...One barometer of the plunge in excitement has been the sale of Obama-themed T-shirts, which designers had been banking on after the craze of last year. Clothing labeled with the president’s name sold by the thousands, helping to salvage a tough economic year for the island.

But this year’s T-shirt sales are much less brisk, merchants say.

“Last year, Obama gave you goose bumps, but I don’t think you’re going to see that this year,’’ said Alex McCluskey, co-owner of the Locker Room, who sold more than 4,000 “I vacationed with Obama’’ T-shirts last year. But so far this year, he said, his hot item is T-shirts of former President Bush asking, “Miss me yet?’’...