With all the talk of the election, the debates, the economy, the bailout, and AIG taking their $85 billion dollar taxpayer-funded bailout as permission to spend $440,000 on a corporate retreat complete with $23,000 in spa treatments for its executives, it’s understandable that many of us just haven’t had the time to think about what we want to be for Halloween.

But never fear – Sarah Palin is here!

Palin made headlines by accessorizing with a canvas tote that reads “Real Women Hunt Moose.”  It’s of note that this bag is the usual canvas, reusable type of tote bag used instead of plastic bags by the eco-conscious at the grocery store; no word as to whether Palin’s bag was filled with groceries, moose meat (is that a grocery item or a field win?) or was simply a gift from Jessica Simpson.

In any case, Palin’s bag reminds us that Halloween is coming up, and we have a few suggestions for those of you who want to be a pit bull sans lipstick/hockey mom/barracuda/Wasilla resident this year.  Whether you think the costume is fun *or scary, we can accessorize your Palin Halloween for you.  The content, as ever, is up to you.

What you’ll need:

1) Moose hunter’s tote bag

2) Palin-esque glasses

3) Shirt to go under your suit

4) Lipstick

5) A button (We know, we know, she wears a pin.  But this is a costume and some creative license is allowed.)

6) Thong

7) If you really want to get into the spirit there’s a variety of accessories that you can tote along with you.  A fake hunting rifle is the most obvious, but we really like this inflatable moose head as well.

And if you want to do a group costume, you can always have a friend or two dress up as moose and go running from you.  We even have shirts for the moose.

So don’t fret – your Halloween costume is just a few shopping carts away from being relevant, fun and something that doesn’t require too much goopy makeup.  (Just don’t forget your lipstick.)

The Vice Presidential debates took place Thursday night, with Joe Biden facing off against Sarah Palin to discuss the economy, foreign policy and the energy crisis.

While neither candidate made a huge gaffe worthy of a front-page headline, there were some winning phrases that have made their way to some fun Vice Presidential t-shirts.

Sarah Palin captured the attention of many a t-shirt designer with a repeated mispronunciation commonly heard for the last 8 years from President Bush: “nuclear” as “nucular.”  She also enchanted her supporters with a “Say it Ain’t so, Joe” puncline off Biden claiming that she was incorrect in disputing that he’s supporter of clean coal technology.

Her winking also garnered attention from some critics; one blogger out there went so far as to make a Palin debate flow chart to express his disdain for her performance, and now you can get Palin debate flow chart t-shirts if you’re of a like mind.

No matter the flow chart, though; pro-Palin designers out there feel the night was Palin’s, and have made some creative designs to that end.

Biden himself didn’t have any particular soundbytes worthy of a t-shirt in this debate, though his recent “Stand up, Chuck!” gaffe a few weeks ago did find its way to some interesting merchandise.

As with the Presidential debates, the winner of the night seems to be in the eye of the beholder.  Or, in this case, the designer.

Voter registration deadlines begin October 4th, so don’t forget to get on out there and register to vote if you haven’t already.

There’s lots of great folks and organizations out there making it easy for you to vote – Rock the Vote has an easy online registration application for you (not to mention some groovy pro-voting t-shirts), and the folks at Mobilize the Vote 2008 will entertain you with a video that you can share and pass along to friends before (or after) you register via their site.  And hey, they have some cool voting merchandise as well.

Indeed, there’s lots of interesting videos out there right now encouraging people to get on out there and vote.  And thus may today be known as Voting Movie Thursday.

Mobilize the Vote has done a new video that reminds the 45 million of-age Millennials that their voices count in this election:

If you’re more into comedic takes on voting, Sarah Silverman’s “The Great Schlep” is a targeted outreach to young Democratic Jews, just in time for the High Holidays.  (Note: this video may not be appropriate for the workplace.)

The Great Schlep from The Great Schlep on Vimeo.

No response from Republican celebs yet, but perhaps Shannen Doherty will do an answer video reaching out to the 90210 zip code…

Now of course, topmost on a lot of folks’ minds today is tonight’s Vice Presidential Debates.  Until they start, though, you can always revisit our own take on the debates…

But do take time out from all the TV-and-movie-watching to register to vote.  Because, you know, voting is a good thing.

And if you have your own favorite voting video, feel free to share it.  We like movies.

John McCain stunned the nation yesterday when he requested that Obama agree to postpone the Presidential debates in order to work on the economic crisis.

Critics of McCain were quick to claim that the Senator is using the economic crisis as an excuse to avoid being on-camera with Obama.  Whether McCain feels ill-prepared to debate Obama, is trying to prevent a Kennedy/Nixon repeat or simply wants to focus his full attention on the American economy is up for… well, debate.

But for those of you who were waiting impatiently for the Presidential debates, you’re in luck: we have our own version of The Great Debate for you.  It’s only 2 minutes long, but hey – it’s better than no debates at all, right?

The Great Debate from CafePress on Vimeo.

So for everyone out there who wants to have their own debate over the issues, just remember: an image is worth 1000 words.  (Liberals here may insert a “Just ask John McCain.”)

Big thanks to the Ditty Bops for use of their song – check out their site for more throwback music that will summon memories of an era when the thought of a televised Presidential debate was mere fantasy.

(Will history repeat itself?)

Very official song credit:

“Skinny Bones”
Performed by The Ditty Bops
Written by Abby DeWald & Amanda Barrett
Published by Ditty Bops Music, (ASCAP)
Courtesy of The Green Witch Society

–

buzzcowboy note:

In the time since this post has been up, the Right Wing has added their voice to the Debate debate.  Most designs are however still pro-Obama on the issue, so if you have a strong pro-McCain or anti-Obama position on the Presidential Debates Debate do remember that your image is a great way to get your voice out there.  Here’s some newer designs:

Barack Obama is no stranger to folks making jokes and commentary about his name – particularly given that his middle name, Hussein, isn’t exactly the American standby of “John” or “Richard.”

Sarah Palin, though, has such an all-American name that one might expect it to fly under the radar.  And upon examination of the names she chose for her children, one proud American decided that, indeed, her brood has the most unconventionally American names of any VP or Presidential elect, past or present: Track, Trig, Bristol, Willow, and Piper.

With that in mind, this patriotic soul decide to bring the world the Sarah Palin Baby-name Generator, so that all of you expectant mothers and Palin fans out there can express your patriotism and choose original but 100% American names for your offspring.

There’s been some debate as to whether one should enter First, Middle, and/or Last names.  Personally, I’m of the opinion that First and Middle names are the correct names to enter into the generator.  So may I hereby be known as Muzzle Mammoth Palin.

And that brings us to Sarah Louise Heath Palin herself, who comes out as: Krinkle Bearcat Palin.  (McCain is Bang Walmart Palin – he should probably stick with G.I. John as his nickname.)

One has to wonder whether Obama might be more palatable to the Right if he went with his Palin name: Plank Castle Palin.  (Joe Biden gets the short end of the stick here, as Recoil Mush Palin.)  Hmm.

And if you’re in the mood for unusual political gear, be sure to visit the official Palin Baby Name shop.

This just in: a worrisome report from The Onion warns us that November’s election promises a dismal financial outlook due to the demise of the anti-Bush t-shirt industry.

Indeed, CafePress is mentioned as a victim of the impending doom.

And here we thought the mortgage crisis was the bad news.

Economists Warn Anti-Bush Merchandise Market Close To Collapse

While we can neither confirm nor deny the contribution amount of anti-Bush merchandise toward our revenue for the past 8 years, it does leave one to wonder what’s to become of the 1.8 million Bush products, all created by people like you.

Will there be a renewed interest in Bush products as his time in office comes to an end?  Will liberals stock up on “End of an Error” merch to remind the world that they knew better?  Or will these products simply live on aside the Dean and Kerry merch, mostly ignored but for sale in perpetuity, memories of a punchline gone by and a great gift for those who want a retro political t-shirt?

One glimmer of hope out there: Sarah Palin seems to have energized the t-shirt economy in a way that even Bush himself has failed to do of late.  While McCain hasn’t made mention of the fact that his choice of running mate was cleverly chosen to help weather the blow of the anti-Bush merch fallout, that’s most likely due to his preference to focus on long-term economic plans.

Then again, Obama merchandise has also shown great stamina, and with 2.1 million products one might suppose that, perhaps, the call for Change brings us Hope of a secure financial future, wherein Berkeley residents can cover their anachronistic “The Only Bush I Trust is My Own” bumper sticker with a newer, more positive message.

Of course, well-respecting liberal bumpers may also welcome anti-Palin stickers of the same flavor.  Indeed, perhaps President Bush’s filial epithet will unintentionally leave us all with a financial future made more secure than his 8-year tenure might suggest.

As it happens, our own CafePress meter would indicate that the combination of Obama and Palin might be enough to offset the demise of the anti-Bush merchandise economy.  So friends, don’t panic yet.  There’s still an election to be had.

That being said, we submit an entreaty to both parties for 2012:

If you’re serious about managing the fallout from the anti-Bush merchandise collapse in order to stimulate the economy, please choose your candidates wisely.  We suggest a dream ticket of Jeb Bush vs. Hillary Clinton.

And if you really want to create an explosive economic growth sector and put a dent in the National Debt, we suggest George W. and Bill as the V.P. choices, respectively.  A Bush/Bush, Clinton/Clinton ticket would enable a t-shirt throwdown that might even get Ben Bernanke out of a suit and tie.  And most certainly out of a grump.

Last week we mentioned the Great Palin Debate, as argued by the hundreds of thousands of Palin designs created by y’all.  We also mentioned that those debates don’t show any sign of going quietly, and to that end we weren’t surprised when this week’s political controversy soundbyte made its way to t-shirts, buttons and everything else fit for a lipsticked pig.  Or a pit bull.  Or a barracuda.  Or any other animal prone to wearing beauty products.

Sarah Palin recently noted that the difference between a pit bull and a hockey mom is lipstick.  Not surprisingly, we immediately saw a bunch of Palin merchandise added around the pit bull/hockey mom lipstick theme.

This week, Barack Obama used a common colloquialism when characterizing McCain’s policies as no different than George W. Bush’s:

“You can put lipstick on a pig.  It’s still a pig. You can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called change. It’s still going to stink after eight years.”

The GOP has accused Obama of a sexist, deliberate attack on Sarah Palin by intentionally referencing her lipstick/pit bull remark; the Obama campaign claims that the remark was the innocent use of a common colloquialism and not meant to characterize Palin as a swine of any kind, and that the GOP’s attacks are a thinly veiled attempt to stir up controversy.

John McCain himself used this phrase when describing Hillary Clinton’s health plan back in ’07.  We didn’t see an explosion of merchandise around it then, but Hillary hasn’t been exempt from the latest batch of creativity…

Interestingly, nobody seems to be objecting to Obama’s second, colorful and non-colloquial portion of that sentence on the grounds that it implies that either McCain or Bush are (a) old, (b) a fish or (c) odorous in any way.  Apparently, all animal metaphors used in political commentary are seen as applying to Palin these days.

So far we have about 4700 lipstick-on-a-pig products, most of which have to do with Sarah Palin.

So: pit bull, pig, barracuda or none of the above?  It may be time to ask the animals for their opinions; unfortunately, Ms. Piggy, Babe and Wilbur have all been mum on the matter, and barracuda aren’t known for their public speaking abilities.  I will however note that, as the owner of a few pit bulls myself, I’m not convinced that lipstick is the main differentiator between Sarah Palin and my dogs.  Then again, she may have a few feather boas hidden away of which the American populace is thus far unaware.

Well, it’s official: John McCain’s choice of a running mate has energized not only political commentary, but his party’s desire for partisan t-shirts as well.  As we’ve noted, the debates about Sarah Palin show no sign of going quietly; users have been going crazy uploading Palin designs that range from the MILF brand of college humor to serious opposition from the left.

For the first time, McCain merchandise is neck and neck with Obama merchandise.  The CafePress Meter shows the trending over time – not surprisingly, the graph shows a similar trend to the USA Today Poll Tracker.

Interestingly enough, we noticed that our 6-month graph also bears an uncanny resemblance to a certain fanged fish.  Hmm.

Editor’s note: The above barracuda image is not to be confused with a trout, carp or ill-tempered sea bass.  Likewise, as per Heart’s public statement, the naming oneself after a barracuda is not to be confused as official endorsement by Heart.

Rush Limbaugh says she’s a “babe.”  Jon Stewart says that “her resume appears to be more suited for a ‘Northern Exposure’ reunion show” than for the office one step away from the Presidency.  And Fred Thompson notes that “She is the only nominee in the history of either party who knows how to properly field dress a moose … with the possible exception of Teddy Roosevelt.”

It’s worth noting that Thompson’s claim is one of the few about Sarah Palin that isn’t the subject of furious debate.

Indeed, the polemic over Sarah Palin has been going strong every since John McCain’s surprise announcement of his running mate last week, prompting a frenzy of arguments between the right and left in what’s been, already, a contentious election throughout primary season.

Whether McCain’s choice was aimed to attract disenfranchised female voters still embittered by a brutal Democratic primary, to shore up the Christian right and uber-conservatives who think he’s too liberal, to lower the average age of his ticket or to help him find suitable outerwear choices for cold winters in D.C. is up for debate.

Then again, everything’s up for debate with Sarah Palin these days, and nowhere is that more evident than on the almighty t-shirt.

Animals seem to be a common theme for Palin merch; perhaps not surprising, given that she hails from the bucolic state of Alaska.

Not to be outdone, the acronym-lovers out there were only too happy to agree with Rush Limbaugh’s assertion that Palin is an attractive candidate.  That the happy owner of VPILF.com – as Huffington post writer David Weiner noted – had the foresight to get that site up and running two months ago might lead some to wonder whether this was a truly a case of foresight or whether he was, with a perhaps misguided sense of optimism, counting on rabid Joe Lieberman groupies to storm the barn doors.

VPILF.com has official t-shirts up and going, and of course there’s lots of variations on the MILF theme for you purists out there.

It’s worth noting that we don’t have a single PILF t-shirt that’s about Hillary Clinton, though we do have a handful made for Obama.  What this means to Clinton is, again, up for debate.  However, Hillary fans can still revel in her love of the almighty pantsuit – and what a pantsuit extravaganza it’s been of late.  With that blue background, it would seem that HRC has a firm grasp of the color theory, most notably complementary colors.

In any case, one thing worth noting is that Palin herself seems to have engendered an unprecedented amount of discussion and merchandise related to her outward appearance.  This is unheard of in a presidential race (of course, we weren’t around making t-shirts for Quayle), and there’s some debate as to whether this kind of labeling and the coverage she’s received is sexist.  One of the more interesting things about these kinds of labels is that, as noted, the Republican pundits (and Cindy McCain) began lauding her external appeal as soon as her appointment was announced and seem to consider it at advantage.

But of course there’s always an answer to any possibly sexist acronym…

Whatever you want to call her, Palin herself has been labeled by right and left (and herself) alike: Hockey Mom, Military Mom, barracuda, VPILF, card-carrying NRA member, hunter, outdoorswoman, pro-lifer, Mother of Five.  As the debate rages on over her inexperience, whether she’s an anti-feminist, the clash between her stance on abstinence and the GOP’s traditional positions about unwed mothers and “traditional family values” being at odds with her inconveniently unmarried pregnant teenage daughter, and of course why McCain – who’s pointed out inexperience as Obama’s failing – would choose her in spite of her own inexperience, a steady stream of user-generated designs tell us that these debates won’t go quietly.