The Full Deck

It's time for a change.

Brian Lewis has seen that promise up close: He was laid off after Thanksgiving from a Fort Myers kitchen-construction and remodeling company.

The self-styled Reagan Republican and retired U.S. Navy officer says he'd been designing a deck of playing cards that take jabs at left-wing politicians in time for this election season. “This was going to be a hobby,” he says.

But after he was laid off, Lewis, 56, turned his efforts into a full-time entrepreneurial venture called VoteThemOutCards, playing cards that poke fun of left-wing candidates — and some Republicans, too. One of the cards shows a tearful President Barack Obama holding a baby rattle and wearing a bulging diaper with the words: “It's time for a change.”

Lewis hopes to sell 50,000 decks, many of them via his website, votethemoutcards.com, and by phone. Once the presidential campaign begins in earnest, he expects to sell hundreds of decks to conservative supporters, including at the Republican convention in Tampa this summer. “We've got about $20,000 invested in it so far,” he says.

The cards depict various politicians, in order of their prominence. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is a joker and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is an ace of diamonds, for example. Florida Senator Bill Nelson is jack of hearts.

But Lewis didn't spare some Republicans. Maine Senator Olympia Snowe is a queen of clubs because of her support for Obamacare, and U.S. Rep. Bill Young is a nine of spades because he's a career politician. “They were such easy targets,” Lewis notes.

Lewis commissioned artists from Southwest Florida College in Fort Myers, where his wife teaches in the art department. Lewis made sure the artists agreed with his political outlook. “Are you going to have a problem with this?” he asked them.

Some of the messages are subtle, such as Reid holding up a small yellow bird with his middle finger. Others are more direct: California Senator Dianne Feinstein, an ace of hearts, is whispering secrets to a terrorist while holding a classified drone-strike schedule. Pelosi's card had to be redrawn a few times. “They kept making her look too good,” Lewis chuckles.

Lewis says he's got an inventory of 10,000 decks and gives discounts for bulk orders. He estimates breaking even after he sells 5,000 decks. He sells the decks for $9.95 a piece, including shipping and handling. “If George Soros comes in, I'm not giving him a discount,” Lewis says, referring to the billionaire supporter of leftist groups in the U.S.

Lewis says he's sticking to making fun of liberals; he won't make a deck for the other side. There's more to come, too. “We're already looking to 2016,” he says.

The designs for the cards also are available on T-shirts, but Lewis partnered with shirt-printer Cafe Press to reproduce them and earns a small percentage of the sales. “I didn't want to have to buy 5,000 T-shirts and print them up,” he says.

Much of Lewis' marketing will be targeted at conservative organizations and politicians using social media such as Facebook. He mailed some decks to radio talk show hosts such as Rush Limbaugh and congressional staffers of conservative politicians. Only Florida U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio sent his deck back to Lewis, with a note explaining that his office doesn't accept any gifts.

Lewis, who says he's never been politically active before this endeavor, says he's learned a valuable lesson from his research and entrepreneurial venture: “It told me I never want to be a politician,” he says.