Obama & Fitch?

Did anyone happen to watch Obama's speech last night? If you did, there's no way you could have missed the three guys in Abercrombie & Fitch t-shirts standing behind him. See below.
OK, maybe some people (Dad?) didn't notice, but it caught my eye right away. First of all, I always look to see who the campaign has positioned behind the candidate during these speeches.

Of course there's a strategy, as there is with everything in politics. The strategy is usually to place some representatives of their least likely supporters behind the candidate. See the middle-aged white couple in the lower right above. Young people of diverse ethnic backgrounds behind Hillary. Anyone but an older white guy behind McCain.

What's going on with the Obama & Fitch campaign? College frat boys are already part of Obama's base. I don't think Obama has to worry about losing their support, as long as they actually come out to vote and don't get sidetracked at a bar somewhere.

Wait - could it be that they're offering free beer at these rallies? Show us your "I voted" sticker and we'll give you a keg cup? The guy on the far right (number 54) did appear to stumble numerous times and had that red-around-the-eyes "dude, I'm gonna puke" look on his face. (Yes, I was paying more attention to the Abercrombies than I was to the speech. I can't be the only one who's getting bored hearing the same speech after every primary.)

Are these A&F-clad supporters strategy or mere coincidence? My first thought when I saw them was that this was an Abercrombie & Fitch advertising ploy. Unless this is a campaign finance loophole, it seems unlikely.

A more plausible explanation could be that the Obama campaign selected these guys to show their base (carefully mixed with the non-base old folks). Perhaps they are looking to draw in more 20-something women, who are leaning toward Obama, at least publicly. I've read about young closet Hillary supporters who don't voice their opinion in the face of Obama-mania. Who knows.

The more I think about this, though, I wonder if this was one of those rare moments in politics: a meaningless coincidence. With A&F as ubiquitous as it is on college campuses, these guys probably didn't even realize that they were a three-piece walking billboard for $40 t-shirts. And now they are semi-famous. Who knew that conformity could lead to 15 minutes of fame?