The Presidential Elections spawn a political revitalization of new opinions and platforms, partisan clashes, letdowns and triumphs over the course of months leading up to the most important political day: November 6, 2012 – voting day. The day we as U.S. citizens not only rally our support behind a candidate with our words, but with the action of voting. And for next year’s election, we’re already seeing some interesting metrics unfold within CafePress political sales of merchandise.

Back in 2008 as the race between Barack Obama and John McCain heated up, we took notice of the political designs by our community of users and sales from those designs. It was interesting to see how sales percentages of political-tagged products were on point with each candidate’s popularity in the polls – and we could try to predict who would win the 2008 Presidential Election. Hence, the origin of the CafePress Election Meter™ was born, and was correct in forecasting the inauguration of current incumbent, President Barack Obama, as well as showing CafePress as a Cultural Barometer® of trends in the election cycle.

Fast-forward to today – November 8, 2011. We’re 363 days away from the 2012 Election, and proud to introduce the 2012 CafePress Election Meter for your one-stop shop on politics updates and self-expression through merchandise. To celebrate, you’ll find a special $10 t-shirt available for each candidate, and you’ll also see some unique graphics and charts of trends based on sales percentages of political-tagged merchandise that will update each week on our election meter:

Overall candidate sales – 2011.  This graphic represents total 2011 political-tagged merchandise sales percentages to date for all candidates. This includes all GOP candidates plus incumbent Barack Obama. Ron Paul leads with 41% of the total, followed by Herman Cain with 21% and Obama with 14%. Interestingly enough, this is the first time since 2008 that another candidate (and in this case, two) took the #1 slot away from Obama. Does this mean Obama’s popularity is starting to weaken?

Pro-Obama VS. Anti-Obama. What’s more interesting than comparing Obama to himself? For those who support Obama, and those against him, this infographic conveys the sentiments of those who design and purchase Obama merchandise on CafePress. From sales percentages of Obama-tagged merchandise, 77% is anti, and 23% pro to date in 2011.

Weekly Results. On a weekly basis, you’ll be able to see which candidate saw the largest increase in sales from the previous week. This graphic can communicate what we’re seeing in terms of candidate popularity. Currently, the buzz is around Herman Cain, who dominates 50% of the total sales percentages of political-tagged products for last week; Ron Paul follows Cain with 24%.

Take a look at our elections meter every week to stay up to date on the current trends on the election cycle. Support your candidate of choice, and let’s see where these predictions will go on November 6, 2012!

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?

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.

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:

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.

We’ve been talking about the trend of anti-Obama T-shirts and pro-Obama T-shirts for awhile now, noting that the infusion of anti-Obama merchandise is to be expected given the artistic cycle of a Presidential election.

Not surprisingly, the trend we’ve seen isn’t isolated to our own website.  The AP just ran a story about the falloff of Obama merchandise and its effect on vendors (and yep, we’re mentioned).

The trends we see would indicate that consumers refine their politics through merchandise once a candidate is elected.  Whereas “Hope” or “Change” were enough to symbolize everything Obama pre-election, these days both pro and anti-camps tend to focus more on policy.  Of course, supporting the President can be as simple as a straightforward “Obama” T-shirt, but we do see increasing numbers of more specific designs on both sides of the political fence – from healthcare to beer summit – that transcend the generalized persona and drill down to specific concerns of the American conscience.

This pattern is a replay of the Bush years, though as noted in the AP article the Bush years gave rise to considerably more ring-spun backlash – both in volume and proportion -  than the current Administration has generated.  What is similar, though, is that We the People’s initial foray into Bush merchandise was of the generalized pro-Bush/anti-Bush flavor, which then evolved to more specific grievances or support.

What this means for us: with T-shirts serving as an American cultural barometer, the merchandise is getting more individualized, more timely and more headline-driven.  Stay tuned.

…is another man’s comrade.

The Obama administration’s 100th day in office has hit, and while 14 weeks + 2 days might seem like an arbitrary time to review the President, hey: this is America.  We like round numbers.  And we like ratings and reviews and grades and polls, too.

On our end, we like using products as our own cultural barometer.  Since all the merchandise in our system is user-created, and since we have a couple hundred million things for sale, it means that we get a pretty good idea of the zeitgeist using the mighty T-shirt as our guide.

The polls will tell you that Obama has about a 2/3 approval rating, and the merchandise tells us roughly the same thing.  America is still largely in favor of the new President – from superhero to homeboy, T-shirt designers have made their voices heard through 3.7 million Obama T-shirts and other products.

But the critics are vocal, too: almost a million products showcase colorful dissent, with the socialism/communism theme being a trend.  As for specific policy, censure of the stimulus package and the bailout plans are the most common themes.

Over and above mapping to polling data, the merchandise is telling us something else: a renewed sense of patriotism has hit America, and the flavor of it has changed radically since the Bush administration.  This time around, those critical of the government are doing so under the same patriotism umbrella of those supporting it.  The Right has drastically changed its messaging, and disagreement with the government no longer sits under the header of “treason” or “traitor.”  Indeed, the T-shirts are telling us that the Right feels that disagreement with the government is the new patriotism.

The Left, for its part, has stayed consistent with the pro-Obama messaging that was adopted throughout the election.  With not much to rail against, the biggest shift in post-Bush liberal merchandise is the lack of anti-anything sentiments.

Whatever your take on the new administration, one thing’s for certain: the Obama administration has given voice to a new generation of American patriots.  Some of them are celebrating with cheers; the others are throwing tea parties.

And now, since we all like grading things:

You don’t have to get to D.C. to participate in the inauguration – this year, you can dress the part in the comfort of your own home with the Very Official Rolling Stone Commemorative Inauguration T-Shirt That Benefits Rock The Vote And Only Costs $15.

For short, you can call it the VORSCITS.  Or you can just call it the Awesome Obama Inauguration T-Shirt.  Or the Rad $15 Inauguration T-shirt of 2008.  Whatever you call it, you might want to get one now before we run out.  Unlike most CafePress products, this one here’s a Limited Edition T-Shirt and that means that we will actually be out of stock at some point, for real.  Which means that we can say “Act now while supplies last!,”  which is a pretty rare and novel day for us ’round these parts.  So I think I’ll enjoy this new, fleeting freedom and remind you to Get it Now Before It’s Too Late!! (using exclamation points here to underline the sense of urgency).

I also get to say this: Free Gift With $50 Purchase!  Yep, if you spend $50 you do get a cool Obama beanie to go with your Obama t-shirt.  This beanie will come in very handy indeed if you actually attend the inauguration, as the East Coast seems to have been hit of late by temperatures more amenable to a snow yeti than to its human residents.

Of course, if you miss this Limited Time Offer (!!! – urgency, folks) we have a couple hundred thousand other inauguration t-shirts, as well as 2.1 million Obama t-shirts (and growing), and those will be for sale for the forseeable future.   Since that’s a lot of stuff to sift through, we did pick the top 44 T-Shirt designs (seeing as how he’s the 44th President and all) so that looking for the perfect Obama T-Shirt doesn’t give you carpal tunnel syndrome.

The $15 Inauguration Tee is a joint project with Rock the Vote and Rolling Stone – the former is the beneficiary of the proceeds and a partner we’ve worked with throughout the election, and the latter worked with its artists to come up with a hip, memorable design that captures the spirit of the Obama inauguration.  The 2008 election was a historic one for Rock the Vote: 2.5 million online registration forms were downloaded, constituting the largest voter registration initiative in history.  That’s not quite as many forms downloaded as Obama products created by you, but it’s 80 times the number of Obama thongs.

So remember:  Act Now, For A Limited Time Only, While Supplies Last, Commemorative Limited Edition and Free Gift with Purchase!

And hey, if you’re not one to be swept up in Obamamania you could also go retro and start a Reagan or Kennedy t-shirt craze at your own leisure.