The GOP field is dwindling, and like in nature, its survival of the fittest – and only the strongest will survive in this race.

Earlier today, Rick Perry made the announcement that his presidential campaign is over – making him the second candidate in a week to drop out of the race (Jon Huntsman left the race on Monday). Perry also made a point to endorse Newt Gingrich, one of the four remaining candidates in the race.

That leaves Gingrich, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul to duke it out on Saturday in the South Carolina primary. By Sunday, there may be another candidate we see drop out of the race.

While Romney may seem like the frontrunner, new news from Iowa shows that Santorum – and not Romney – was the actual winner of the caucus of their state by less than 40 votes. This may throw a wrench into what Romney saw as an initial victory, and may in fact boost Santorum moving into this Saturday.

Out of the remaining candidates, whom do you foresee winning? And who are rooting for to go against Obama in November? Keep up with our Cultural Barometer elections Meter graph for all the latest info in politics.

Well, the media hubbub surrounding Herman Cain’s decision to suspend his presidential campaign is starting to die down. And with Cain out, it may mean no more pizza for the former Godfather Pizza CEO – but in Willy Wonka terms, that doesn’t mean the race for the republican “golden ticket” is over yet. Especially with the newest candidate who just announced his intent to run.

Meet Marvin E. Quasniki – turquoise farmer from Nevada and newest Presidential hopeful.

For someone who is terrified of muppets (The Swedish Chef has NO EYES people), Marvin is actually OK in my book. He’s got some sass, some humor, and most of all, a personality that is likeable to the public. Ask him about his platforms, and you’ll get a simple answer: “No Bulls%*t!” Take a look at the official Marvin E. Quasniki video channel to see what Marvin’s really all about – and you can find all of his official merchandise on CafePress in the Marvin Quasniki shop.

So determine for yourself if you think Marvin is a good candidate for the 2012 election and get your vote in gear. Maybe you’ll see him on the streets near your town. And for my sake, let’s just hope he doesn’t bring The Swedish Chef on the campaign trail with him.

With recent allegations against Herman Cain from former employees starting to take its toll on the businessman-cum-potential Presidential candidate’s popularity, another GOP challenger is riding the rising wave – Newt Gingrich.

No amateur to politics or a presidential race, we’ve seen Gingrich’s recent acceleration in CafePress political-tagged merchandise sales on the latest CafePress Election Meter™ infographic, rising from an average of 2% three months ago, to an 8% jump this week, which puts Gingrich neck and neck in popularity with Mitt Romney (who also has 8%).

However, this jump is still not enough to surpass t-shirt front-runner Ron Paul, who maintains 43% of t-shirt sales from the week ending on November 20th.

Will Newt’s sales be steady on the rise, or will they falter soon to make way for another candidate’s turn in the spotlight? Tune into our CafePress Election Meter page next week to find out!

There was much to discuss on Monday night, as eight Republican presidential candidates took to their microphones to speak up on controversial issues such as “Obamacare,” and social security in the first Tea Party debate in Tampa, FL. Candidates included Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and businessman Herman Cain, who offered their opinions on their platforms and jabs at other candidates. The main target of the night turned out to be Rick Perry; the Texas governor was asked about his views on social security and offering college tuition cuts to illegal immigrants but defended himself and his views to his opponents.

So here at CafePress, we took to our own Cultural Barometer poll – and we asked our Facebook fans whom they thought was the strongest contender from the Tea Party debate, and the result was obvious:

Our followers are feeling the Ron Paul revolution, as Mr. Paul received approximately 52% of the votes.

Similarly, we took a look at sales of CafePress products by candidate, and again, Ron Paul came out victorious this week with 51% of the participating Republican candidates sales to date:

What do you think of the latest debate? Are you Team Ron Paul, or see another candidate as the strongest and best leader for our country? Tell us your thoughts.

2008 turned out to be a year of triumphs, upsets, and a major historical milestone, in the form of the presidential election.

And throughout that year, our community created amazing designs for their favorite candidates – and we started to notice a very interesting trend. We found that we could make an educated guess on who would win based on the sales percentages of CafePress products for each candidate. And from every primary, to John McCain’s Republican nomination, to the election of Barack Obama as the next president, our theory turned out to be right on target. If we could – in a way – help predict the 2008 elections through the popularity of our products, we could measure CafePress as a Cultural Barometer for pop culture and current events. We built the “CafePress Meter” and became a straw poll of sorts.

This year, we’re sensing the anticipation of the upcoming 2012 elections – and we’re already seeing who’s being talked about, and who’s going to make it or break it. Take a look at who’s got the buzz, and who’s going to give Obama a run for his money:

Although Sarah Palin has yet to announce her intentions for the Presidential race, Sarah Palin products have been consistently up for the past nine months. To be or not to be – that is the Palin question. In addition, Ron Paul’s going strong, and Rick Perry has started to take over a bigger piece of the Republican challengers pie since his declaration for the presidential seat in June.

All in all, we’re keeping a close watch on what’s happening, and we’ll be your source for all things politics through products to sport your support. Who do you think has the biggest chance to run against Obama, and who is his biggest threat?

While east coast earthquakes and high-profile reality TV weddings may be a blip on the brains of some, the 2012 election season is certainly coming to a head – well, many heads – in the form of potential candidates planning their campaigns to run against President Obama. And CafePress users are following and creating the trends.

Take Rick Perry, the Texas governor who made his intentions of presidential proportions official this month – and soon after his announcement, Rick Perry gifts were as popular and plentiful as his state’s beloved longhorn.

And also making a splash on Cultural Barometer scene: enter Ron Paul. No stranger to the Republican race to the White House, the House representative has a strong following with Ron Paul Revolution gifts after formally announcing his candidacy back in May of this year.

Politics is already heating up for 2012 – and its only August. I wonder if all those politicians wearing suits in the summer heat has anything to do with it…

Last Friday marked a milestone for gay rights in the United States, as New York State became the sixth state in the country to pass law legalizing same-sex marriage.

The Senate passed the bill 33-29 in a late-night Friday vote, which included four republicans voting in favor of the bill, and one democrat voting against it. Same-sex couples will be able to marry as early as late July, once the law goes into effect in approximately 30 days.

Passing of this bill was celebrated on both a local and a national level. As people took to the streets of New York in excitement, our shopkeepers, designers and advocates and supporters of the effort took to CafePress.com to create new New York gay-marriage designs and LGBT t-shirts to show their pride and enthusiasm.

On CafePress.com, sales of gay marriage-themed products more than doubled over the night of June 24^th, the day the bill was passed. Many credit New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo in working to make same-sex marriage legal in New York, the sentiments of which many agreed with here on CafePress.com.

Politics continues to trend high at CafePress. With Herman Cain announcing in 2012 Presidential candidacy, the Georgia Republican (and former head of Godfather’s Pizza) is generating new designs and sales. Ditto for Barack Obama, Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich.

There’s also a lot of activity around the May 21 Rapture Day prediction by Harold Camping. He has now sharpened his pencil, redone the math, and revised the date of the rapture to October 21, 2011. Stay tuned.

With school bells ringing for their final time this year, graduation 2011 and class of 2011 themes are seeing a spike too. Not to mention teacher gifts, which are obviously popular this time of year.

News broke late Sunday night announcing the death of Osama bin Laden. President Obama spoke from the White House, explaining the U.S. military raid on a compound in Pakistan where Bin Laden was hiding, and the subsequent assault that ended in his death.

As you may know, CafePress.com users comprise a robust community of diverse people who can create and upload their own product designs. The community expresses themselves in many ways – oftentimes focused on current events, news or pop culture trends – making the CafePress.com Marketplace a Cultural Barometer for the latest on what’s happening in the world.

The CafePress community quickly began voicing their thoughts and feelings about Osama bin Laden on t-shirts and other products minutes after reports of his death surfaced. So far, overall sentiment of Osama related designs centers on the following themes:

1. Celebration: For many, it feels like justice has been served, and the military accomplished their mission.
2. Commemorative: Remembering the 9/11 attacks and tributes to those affected.
3. A moment for the history books: Yesterday will go down as a milestone in U.S. history.
4. Patriotism: Many designs supporting the military. We’re seeing designs that are showing their pride for our friends and family bravely fighting for the U.S.
5. Hats off to the President: Designs are showing that we’re proud of our president and many are saying this cements President Obama’s chances of being re-elected in 2012.

How do you feel about this news? Share your thoughts with us below:

With all of the political scandals going around – from Mark Sanford and Blago to Elliot Spitzer and John Edwards – it’s refreshing to hear actor George Clooney’s response to running for public office.

An advocate of many social goods (most notably the plight of the African nations), he’s up-front about his chances of ever winning a post and easily admits that he hasn’t led the right sort of life to pass public scrutiny. In fact, jokingly, he suggested his campaign slogan would be, “I drank the bong water.”

Wouldn’t if be nice if more fallen politicians would just admit when they do stumble morally, and let us all try to move on? It would be much better than the deny, deny, deny — like we’re all so oblivious. After all, this is 2011 and there’s this thing called the Internet. The days of political life behind closed-doors is way past. Just a thought. But is that what politics is all about?