"Palin Power" T-Shirts Sold in the Ladies Room

Tampa, Florida -- Rebecca Porter is a slim, attractive and long-haired redhead with a day job with a women's ministry. She became involved in John McCain's presidential campaign after the selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate. The affinity of spirit and values compelled Rebecca to design a simple t-shirt that merely said "Palin Power."

The shirt became an immediate hit at the local campaign offices, and she found out quickly that the more shirts she offered, the more shirts that she sold. Each shirt was a commercial for the next purchaser, and as women saw the shirt, they sought to get their own. Republican women were raising respectable amounts of campaign cash as the shirts spread like wildfire.

When Palin stumped at the Tampa Convention Center on Sunday morning, Oct. 26, Rebecca came, too, at the invitation of the Hillsborough County Republican Party. At 8 a.m., she carried in her inventory, and prayed she could meet Sarah and give her a shirt or take home an autograph. Rebecca had some shirts to sell and some to share.

Not so fast. Police officers at the site had strict instructions to prevent the sale of any shirts on the premises. The convention staff reiterated the prohibition. As Rebecca stood in the lobby, women could see the shirts had arrived, and they eagerly pressed for the opportunity to buy them. Quietly, Rebecca had to dissuade the ladies until the misunderstanding was resolved.

And so began a flurry of phone calls, involving security officers, convention staff, party officials, event planners and policemen. How could it be that a Republican campaign event -- by Republicans, for Republicans with the permission of Republicans and the encouragement of Republican consumers -- would not allow the sale of a few dozen shirts with a revolutionary message?

Well, it seems that in the event planning, and the contracts governing the activities permitted in the Convention Center, the sale of tee shirts was not in the contract, and a special license had to be obtained from the City of Tampa Parks and Recreation Department for shirts to be sold. The Parks and Recreation Office was closed on Sunday.

So that was the bottom line -- no way, no how, no shirt sales.

The Guest Services Department manager on duty, Una Garvey, would grant no special discretion. Now this was a definite surprise because in many events so staged by the Republican Party in the recent past, no such intransigence had been forthcoming. This is how Garvey was introduced in the Convention Center promotion literature: "Our Guest Services Department will take care of any special needs, make suggestions for things to do and see while you are here, and many other things to make your visit a great experience."

Rebecca was more than disappointed. She had promised dozens of people, as she walked to the lobby and waited patiently in the mezzanine, that the shirts would go on sale momentarily. Her dream of giving a shirt to Sarah had been dashed, for she would have to leave the premises with the forbidden contraband. So she prayed that the Lord would give her a "creative way" to get the message out. Her eyes went to the WOMEN sign above the ladies room.

As she stood in the restroom with her shirts, the ladies inside were thrilled. There were the shirts -- Palin Power! They insisted Rebecca wait on them while they dashed to the ATM and got cash. Word spread quickly through the long lines that awaited entry into the secure auditorium behind the metal detectors. The shirts were on sale in the ladies room. Swiftly, a clandestine marketplace distributed the shirts to eager ladies in the sanctuary. A small guard of women lookouts defended the doors. The cops were not fooled. A pink bulge in more than one purse, and a quick wardrobe change by more than one patron gave the game away. The police winked at each other, and formed a second hedge of protection around the lady door guards. The officers knew full well that if this had been a Barack Obama rally, no one would have questioned the shirt sales.

Rebecca sold every shirt that she had brought to the Sarah Palin event in a matter of minutes. There were pink Palin Power t-shirts everywhere. She even got an opportunity to get Sarah's blue felt tip pen autograph on her ticket and to tell her that the shirts had been created just for her. Sarah looked her in the eye and answered back, "Thank you, I've seen them and I LOVE them!" How did Rebecca come to catch Sarah's eye amid the pressing throng of an adoring public, all vying for a photograph, a hand shake, a wink, or an autograph? Well, call it serendipity. Rebecca got everything she had come to the rally for, and much more.