Hot Buttons. We’ve all got ‘em—and every single one of us gets our undergarments in a twist about one thing or another. Maybe you’re anti-Romney, anti-“hope,” anti-taxes, anti-second amendment or even just anti-workin’ for a living. Wait—that’s good. Everybody break and put their feet up…excellent!

Point is, people have been voicing complaints, compliments and out-loud observations about society since the term was first coined. Sticking their views right on their lapels via buttons. This habit of button-wearing for a cause actually goes back centuries; even America’s iconic, powder-wigged original leader himself had these campaign tchotchkes to pass out. Yes, way back in 1789, little brass “G.W.—Long live the President” buttons were sewn right onto the jackets of George Washington’s supporters. In 1860, President Lincoln similarly offered up campaign buttons, as did McKinley in 1896, etc., etc.

So, what’s your 2012 issue or passion you’d love to stick out there? Wanna give a shout out for recycling? Trekkie conventions? Your favorite candidate? Whatever it is, we’ve got a button for you (or if not, you can design your own!). That’s the beauty of CafePress—it’s “any button for one, or one button for all. You pick.” Can’t imagine why that slogan hasn’t taken off.

Top button collectors say it’s a timeless form of expression. “By removing the barrier for individuals to produce unique items in limited quantities, CafePress provides today’s users with the ability to create tomorrow’s collectibles,” says Chris DiGiovanna of Trader Chris Consignments in Pittsboro, North Carolina. “Who knows what sort of things you’ll see from CafePress selling on eBay in 5, 10, or 20 years?”

To sew it up, political campaign buttons are a great way to get your point across. CafePress buttons are subtle, yet also provide a message with a lot of sticktoitiveness. The perfect 2012 political companion!! And you can get ‘em now at CafePress.

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.

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?

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.

Still top of mind, the recently-completed Osama bin Laden mission remains high on people’s minds, Designers and buyers are alike expressing themselves in no uncertain terms at CafePress. The sentiment seems to be slowly turning from anti-Osama designs to pro Navy Seals Team 6 designs.

The 2012 Election is gaining serious momentum too. With Ron Paul throwing his hat in the ring and Newt Gingrich following suit, the designs are out in force. Ditto for the election gear focusing on President Obama.

Also trending high are new designs from The View – the ABC daytime talk show moderated by Whoopi Goldberg and her fellow panelists. Particularly hot is their Spring Mug.

Teary-eyed wedding shoppers are making their presence (and presents?) known this week, as England’s Royal Wedding is set for this Friday. Ditto for British flag designs. It’s a major event on everyone’s radar, and check out the coolest pair of Royal Wedding underwear seen on The View and for those of you waking up at the crack of dawn to watch the nuptials; a pair of pajamas will do the trick. Hopefully the royal couple can get hitched without a hitch. We send our best to the Prince and future Princess.

Also trending high (as weather starts to improve), are marathon (and particularly half marathon) designs. Looks like some of those New Year’s Resolutions are coming into play. Eat a banana for us.

Still gaining momentum with no end in site is Obama 2012 – with both pro-Obama and anti-Obama racking up sales. And as the Pacific Earthquake & Tsunami relief effort continues, CafePress shopkeepers and shoppers continue to show support with Japan relief products.

A quick glance at the CafePress hot sellers list gives us a pretty good idea of what’s on people’s minds. From designs our community is creating to the products a world of people are ordering, the CafePress Marketplace has become a Cultural Barometer of trends – here’s what we’re seeing this week…

President Barack Obama is back on the radar, as his 2012 re-election campaign officially kicked off. Pro Obama 2012 and Anti Obama 2012 are both getting action. It’s going to be a long & drawn-out battle to the White House, so fasten your seat belts. We’re also seeing some interest in a few rumored Republican competitors; enter Donald Trump?

The Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami tragedy continues to ride a wave of awareness and support. These Japan relief products are particularly popular now, as CafePress is donating a portion of the proceeds from their sales to the American Red Cross through April 11 with a $15 limited edition t-shirt, $10 of which is also going towards relief efforts.

This week we also see an outpouring of support for Autism Awareness Month, where we’re giving 10% of proceeds from sales of Autism-themed products to Autism Speaks. We also were fortunate enough to have a few of our shopkeepers share their stories and autism-related shops with us as a Voice for Autism.

Holidays are also popular, with Earth Day gaining traction and Easter building momentum, just days from each other. Both are giving Charlie Sheen and the winning crew a run for their money.

While Rahm Emanuel may be a rolling stone – skipping back-and-forth between D.C. and Chi-town – the Chicago Board of Elections has ruled that the Windy City is indeed his official home. Hence Mr. Emanuel can run in February’s election to succeed Mayor Daley.

After a three-day hearing hashing-over such pertinent details as the fact that he keeps his wife’s wedding dress in Chicago, the board dismissed all residency challenges to President Obama’s former Chief of Staff – and will allow Emanuel’s name on the ballot. Whether you’re a fan of Emanuel or Vera Wang (no, she’s not running, but her wedding dresses are on the runway), the decision does add some spice to the upcoming election.

It also makes me think twice about where I store the cummerbund from my wedding. Who knows when a condo board or flag football team is going to demand residency before I’m voted in?

It’s been exactly one year since President Obama was sworn into office, and what a year it’s been in T-shirts.  From the “hurrahs” of the Obama supporters to the anti-Obama cries of socialism, tea parties, stimulus noise and the healthcare debate, our community of designers has spent the past year actively participating in the greater political discussion via the blank canvas of the almighty T-shirt.

We now have 3.8 million Obama products – a staggering number, and more than we’ve ever had about a political figure.  (Or any one person, actually – even Edward Cullen fails to sparkle pales in comparison.)

What the next 3 years hold for the country (and the T-shirts) is up for debate; in the meantime, we figured it’s a good time to see what y’all think of the POTUS on this anniversary of his taking office.

TV fans were all a-Twitter this week about the possibility of a calamitous scheduling conflict: the State of the Union address needs prime airtime, and the White House is rumored to be looking seriously at February 2nd – the date of the “Lost” final season premiere, as well as “American Idol.”

The State of the Union is generally in late January, by tradition rather than mandate.  The speculation is that Obama would like to show up at the podium for his first SOTU address with a newly-signed healthcare reform law as the star of the show, which would seem to indicate that the President is more likely to side with Ted Kennedy than with Jack or Locke.  “Lost” fans wasted no time in creating a Twitter hashtag movement, #NoStateofUnionFeb2, which boldly goes where few hashtags have gone before by taking up 13% of available tweet characters.

It’s not just your average American couch potato afflicted with worry over this pop culture conundrum.  TIME (yes, the news magazine) critic James Poniewozik blogged his opposition to another possible “Lost” time travel experience with a post entitled, “Scheduling Change We Cannot Believe In.”  A Variety reporter also tearfully helpfully suggested that superagent Ari Emanuel, whose agency represents “Lost” producer Carlton Cuse, call his brother and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel to “fix this.”

No word on whether studio executives have suggested consulting with David Petraeus to determine an appropriate counterinsurgency movement.

UPDATE 1/8: Robert Gibbs has allayed the worries of “Lost” fans everywhere by noting that the chance of the President interrupting the Oceanic 6 in their final season is “very unlikely.”  Phew.  Now we just have to worry about what happened after the whole Swan nuclear destruction thing.