Strategy September 24, 2019
‘Make Campus Great Again’ Outreach Includes Trump Reelection Merch
The Trump campaign has also launched an extensive line of 2020-themed branded swag.
The Trump reelection campaign is heading back to school – and it’s bringing the swag.
As part of a grassroots voter registration effort, the Republican National Committee has launched “Make Campus Great Again.” It’s an initiative in which college student participants receive voter registration/outreach training and pizza – plus, free Trump-branded merchandise like campaign buttons and drink insulators to keep and distribute to peers.
Started last week at four schools in Ohio, the training and related outreach aim to drum up support for Trump in a demographic that Democrats have tended to dominate of late – namely, college-age voters. In the 2018 midterm elections, for example, 67% of voters between the ages of 18 and 22 supported Democratic candidates for the House of Representatives, according to Reuters. Only 31% voted Republican.
The on-campus outreach – described as a national effort with more training planned at universities in swing states like Wisconsin, Michigan and Colorado – is intended to galvanize conservatives already on campus and win over students who are on the fence, according to organizers.
“It serves as a way to bring conservative supporters out of the shadows of college campuses and show that they have a home in the Republican movement,” Mandi Merritt, a regional spokeswoman for the Trump-RNC reelection effort, told Reuters.
The campus outreach comes as the Trump campaign has begun promoting the president’s reelection with an extensive line of 2020-themed branded merchandise. In addition to buttons, the line includes an array of Trump/Pence T-shirts, yard signs, stickers, can coolers, pint glasses, stadium cups, coffee mugs, a flag and window clings.
A variety of ball caps populate the collection too, including a “Keep America Great” cap that plays off the famous “Make America Great Again” hats that, to date, have been one of the most recognizable promotional products of the 21st century.
There’s also a limited-edition, superhero-style poster of America’s chief executive.
Branded merchandise’s role in the 2020 presidential election appears to be growing. In addition to web stores filled with consistently stocked collections of swag, candidates on the Democratic side and Trump have released “moment merch” to comment on – and capitalize on – hot button issues and trending sociopolitical topics. Read more about that here.