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NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2008
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ELECTION 2008
Kristen Freese, Glasgow, Mo., graduate; Joey Brown, Overland Park senior; and Whit Bones, Tulsa Okla., senior, make "Obandas," pro-Obama bandanas that promote the importance for voting in the 2008 presidential election. Freese said that she started the bandanas as a tool to get people excited about making a change. She has made more than 700 bandanas and said that she had sold about half of them through Wild Man Animation, Creation Station and through her Web site. She said that it is a way to keep the market local and to support local shops.
Obama featured on graduate's bandana
BY JACOB MUSELMANN
editor@kansan.com
Kristen Freese has political flair, but when she sees others wearing the same black and white piece of fabric, she isn't annoyed. She made it.
Freese, Glasgow, Mo., graduate student, is the creator of "Obandas," bandanas promoting Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama.
"Buttons and stickers kind of come and go," she said. "This way, you can be showing your support without being outlandish."
Freese, whose bandanas display the words "Vote for change," said she began selling the bandanas in
May 2008, before Obama was officially nominated and had adopted the slogan. She got the idea from similar anti-Bush bandanas she saw at a festival. She said it was primarily a business endeavor, but wouldn't have happened without the interest she had in the elections.
"Times are different now. We are getting further away from our evil past of separation and of segregation," she said. "I've gotta do this."
Although she had donated to the campaign in the past, she said her fund-raising efforts were meant to cover the overhead costs of the project and to pay for graduate school.
"I love my Obanda," said Whit Bones, Tulsa, Okla., senior. Bones uses his to cover his face from sawdust and other debris during his sculpting classes.
"This is the first time in my voting life that I could actually get behind a candidate. He has really united a generation," he said.
Keith Campbell, deputy county clerk in charge of elections in Lawrence, said the office broke a new record this week for daily impersonal ballots received, and had already surpassed the number of early ballots submitted in 2004. He said many of the voters were students, sometimes coming in big groups or with their athletic teams.
"Capital gains don't resonate with college-aged kids," said Jonathan Earle, assistant director at the Dole Institute of Politics. "There has always been something about Obama striking a chord with younger people. He represents change. Students can make their own campaign."
Freese has sold about 350 bandanas so far, some of which were given away for promotion. She admitted the general undertaking had not been easy.
"I second-guessed myself at first," she said, referencing start-up costs and the initial ridicule she had received from some. Finding time for the business in the midst of school and work was also a big investment for a "small-time gig," she said. She's spent sleepless nights talking with tech support for her Web site, www.obandas.com.
Freese sold the bandanas at Wakarusa Music and Camping Festival, summer kickball games and even the Voodoo Music Festival in New Orleans. Some of the festivals performers, including Erykah Badu, unexpectedly wore the bandanas during their performances. The bandana funds paid for that trip.
Tony Brown, Kansas City, Mo.
graduate, said he saw Freese sporting a bandana while riding her bike and decided to buy one four months ago. He wears his on his backpack.
"It was the most exhilarating experience. I will never forget it," she said.
Still, with Election Day less than one week away, Freese is trying to get her product out the door. Until then, she said she would make the most of her time, a task that she described as very scary.
"It's been a small success — the experience already has been, the financial parts we'll see about."
Edited by Kelsey Hayes