“Don’t Blame Me! I voted for Palin.”
“If you think health care is expensive now, wait ‘til it’s free!”
“Love your Country; fear your government!”
These are just some of the slogans you can order on a bumper sticker, t-shirt or baseball cap from the Internet retailer, Patriot Depot.
The two-year old company’s motto is “supplies for the conservative revolution.”
And that supply is boxed and shipped from north-central West Virginia. White Hall, Marion County to be more precise.
Despite the economy, this business has grown. Chief Operating Officer and General Manager, Jay Taylor, says sales just topped $1 million for this year.
“Definitely our top seller would be our “I’ll keep my guns, freedom, and money; you can keep the change” bumper sticker,” said Taylor. “I think we’ve printed 100,000 of those stickers.”
Taylor grew up in Grafton. It’s obvious he’s a mountaineer fan from the yellow jeep wrangler he drives with blue fuzzy dice hanging from the rear view mirror. He says the mountaineers are a passion of his; so too is spreading conservative values.
“I’ve been told I wear my politics on my sleeve,” Taylor said.
His car also wears his politics. The bumper is lined with stickers that bash big government and President Obama. One sticker reads, “There’s a village in Kenya that’s missing its idiot.”
Does he think this goes too far?
“We try to provide a variety of things to people, so if they want a serious bumper sticker, we’ve got those. If they want funny stickers, we’ve got those,” Taylor said. “We’re trying to stay positive and give people what they want.”
Apparently the time is right to cash in on the collective conservative angst that Taylor and other likeminded people feel. The company opened an office in Marion County two years ago with one employee. It’s since moved into a bigger space and now has ten employees.
Is it lonely working for a conservative organization in a state with nearly twice as many democrats as republicans? Nope, not in West Virginia, Taylor says.
“The democrats in West Virginia are the conservative democrats, even Joe Manchin,” Taylor said. “I know he would tout his party line and wouldn’t like me saying this, but I like what Joe Manchin’s done. It’s not about republican and democrat to us.”
However, at least one bumper sticker advertised on the company Web site around the 9-11 anniversary would suggest otherwise. It reads: “9-11-2001. Elephants remember. Jackasses forget.”