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Heard on the Hill: Sex Sells — but Not Congress

By Neda Semnani
Posted May 27, 2011 at 4:37pm

Online T-shirt entrepreneurs can’t get enough of executive sex scandals. But Congressional scandals just don’t cut it.

CafePress, a website for “customizable merchandise” that boasts 6.5 million users, reported last week that Arnold Schwarzenegger sex scandal merchandise already makes up 4 percent of its political sex scandal merchandise sales. (Yes, this is an actual metric. Go stats!)

Leading all sex scandal merchandise sales with 66 percent are those that riff on President Bill Clinton’s bad behavior. Failed vice presidential candidate ex-Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) and ex-Govs. Eliot Spitzer (D) of New York and Mark Sanford (R) of South Carolina trail far behind Bubba with their own merchandise.

Missing in all this snarky hilarious fun? Our lowly Congressional sex scandals.

HOH couldn’t find former Rep. Chris Lee’s (R-N.Y) mirror muscle flex picture on a mug. We couldn’t find a Tickle Me ex-Rep. Eric Massa (D-N.Y.) doll. Nor was a former Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) stationery set to be found.

The only Congressional sex scandal merchandise that HOH could find were former Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) T-shirts and former Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho)  “wide stance” aprons.

Do let us know whether you run across more sex scandal merchandise. A Benjamin Franklin collectible plate,  perhaps?

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