It may not seem like a Vice Presidential candidate has a lot in common with a local plumber and a teenage vampire, but then again this was a year of surprises. Sarah Palin, Ron Paul, Joe the Plumber and Edward Cullen showed the kind of impact that can be made when the everyman appeal hits home.
Sarah Palin
John McCain’s surprise pick of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate spurred a Republican resurgence of energy and a national media frenzy. As Palin fascination grew, the t-shirts came pouring in – Palin actually unseated Obama for a time in the t-shirt primary, thus proving that a Bible-and-Gun-totin’ Hockey Mom could inspire more than her party members. Sarah Palin had a lot of nicknames and colloquiallisms applied to her that lent themselves naturally to merchandise, and many of them had to do with animals – not entirely inappropriate, given that she hails from the bucolic state of Alaska. She was the Cougar, the Barracuda (and the Sarahcuda), the Moose-Hunter, Caribou Barbie and the Pit Bull with Lipstick. She was also the Maverick (and used the term liberally to describe both her and McCain), the Hockey Mom, the MILF and the VPILF.
Given her unabashed love of hunting, guns and her religion, it wasn’t surprising to see strong opinions on both sides of the political fence about Sarah Palin. The religious right embraced her as the All-American poster girl and portrayed her as the anti-Obama; liberals and feminists, insulted at the implied assumption that women would vote along gender lines rather than on political issues, decried her as inexperienced and anti-feminist and accused McCain of pandering to the 18 million voters who had chosen Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries.
It seemed that everything Palin did was worthy of a headline, most notably any homespun gaffes she might make in front of a camera. But when Palin spoke, people listened. From her noting Alaska’s proximity to Russia as foreign policy experience to her performance in the debates, Sarah Palin was someone who’s every word (and choice of accessory) was discussed and debated – and, very often, committed to the almighty t-shirt. In the end, Palin’s newsworthiness was unable to knock Obama out of the minds of American voters on election day. But in the short time she was in the public eye, Sarah Palin managed to put Wasilla, Alaska on the World Map. (It’s up by Canada, kinda next to Russia.)
Ron Paul
Republican Congressman Ron Paul burst onto the 2008 election scene Howard Dean-style. Using the Internet as his canvassing ground, he amassed millions of supporters (The “Ron Paul Revolution“) who viewed the Republican Presidential Candidate from Lake Jackson, Texas as a heroic, no-nonsense, common-sense-talking anti-Bush. Though a Libertarian at heart, Ron Paul has been open about the necessity of running for public office as a Republican in order to have a viable shot at Congress and the Presidency. He is openly critical about President Bush and his administration, particularly as relates to the Iraq war and Bush big government straying from intrinsic Republican values.
Without the money to buy quality airtime and with the cameras aimed elsewhere, Ron Paul used the Internet and in-person speaking engagements to spread his message. His dedication to his ideals and the massive online support he amassed did get people to stand up and take notice, though ultimately – like Dean before him – he was unable to transfer his online popularity into real-world votes. Still, though, Ron Paul made a name for himself as an honest-to-a-fault public servant who stays true to his beliefs and his constituents, and he was the first candidate in the 2008 election to harness the power of the internet to mobilize his message and his supporters.
Joe the Plumber
Joe the Plumber (known as Joe Wurzelbacher by those who can pronounce it)made a name for himself during the third Presidential debate. Better said, John McCain made a name for him (namely, Joe the Plumber), mentioning Joe 21 times. Obama was good for 5 mentions, for a grand total of 26 mentions for Joe the Plumber. By contrast, Iraq came up 6 times and the economy was mentioned 16 times. Joe far outshone mention of Sarah Palin and Joe Biden as well. Not surprisingly, we saw Joe the Plumber designs hit the system mid-debate and within a few hours Joe had about 1/4 the content of all plumber designs.
Joe became an unlikely hero for the McCain campaign after having a discussion with Obama on the campaign trail about the Illinois Senator’s proposed tax plan. McCain used Joe as an example of a hardworking American (dare we say Joe Six Pack?) who would pay more taxes under the Obama plan. The Obama/Joe conversation was recorded by cameras; the uncut version ends with Obama noting that chatting with Joe was good debate prep:
As it turns out, Joe the Plumber doesn’t actually make $250,000 a year; it seems he was simply concerned about the principle behind Obama’s plan. Despite being made an instant celebrity thanks to McCain, Joe initially wouldn’t endorse either candidate and went on-record that he was keeping his vote private.
His vote was kept private for 12 days, at which point he jumped on the bus and hit the campaign trail with John McCain. In the meantime, Joe was made an instant celebrity and unlikely political pundit, being interviewed as a symbol of the everyman by everyone from Katie Couric to Mike Huckabee. Local television stations around the country scrambled to find their own Joe the Plumber (my own local station used Eduardo the Electrician – yes, really), but none could match the t-shirt worthiness of the actual Joe the Plumber.
As is the case with so many relationships rushed into by two people who barely know each other, the McCain/Wurzelbacher romance hit the rocks a couple weeks later over McCain’s support of the Paulson bailout plan. While Wurzelbacher now says he was “appalled” by McCain at that point and considered moving out (read: getting off the bus), he reconsidered due to their mutual desire to move the Arizona Senator into more modest accommodations in Washington, D.C..
With the election over, Joe has found a place for himself on conservative talk radio and television; he also has a book deal in the works. When all is said and done, Joe the Plumber will go down as someone who took his 15 minutes of fame and ran with it. (Er… or rode a bus with it.)
Edward Cullen
If you haven’t heard of the small town of Forks, Washington or its sparkly resident Edward Cullen, chances are that you don’t have a teenage girl in the house. The real town of Forks is the setting for Stephenie Meyers’ “Twilight” book series, which portrays a love story between teenagers Bella (a mortal and recent transplant to Forks) and Edward Cullen (vampire, baseball player and Forks resident).
The hit book series was optioned by Hollywood, and the first “Twilight” movie hit theaters on November 21st to rave fan reviews. Before the movie opened, the “Twilight” folks did something for their fans that’s a rarity in Hollywood: they gave them permission to make “Twilight” merchandise.
Given the avid fan base of “Twilight,” we looked forward to seeing creative, inspired designs – and we weren’t disappointed. Twilight t-shirts immediately filled the fan portal to the tune of almost 450,000 Twilight products as of this writing, and motivated fans were able to wear their own creations – and those of other fans – to the opening night showing.
While Edward Cullen himself is by far the most popular character in the land of t-shirt fandom, there’s also a wide variety of shirts celebrating Bella, Jacob and the story itself. All in all, it’s been a real treat to see the enthusiasm and creativity that “Twilight” enthusiasts have demonstrated over the past few months.
So what would Edward wear? Well, we think he’d find something.
2008 was a year of ups and downs – from politics to gas prices to the economy, this year was a mercurial one for America.
In winding down this 2008 we’re taking a look back at the four main themes we saw ’round these parts, with this post serving as the first installment. As you may have guessed, one of the main themes of this year happens to also be the catch phrase of someone who inspired most a nation to believe it: Yes we can. And as the shirts will tell you, yes we did.
But Barack Obama wasn’t the only person determined to succeed in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds this year. There were others out there who put their noses to the grindstone and faced their challenges with the single-minded determination of an ant travelling uphill in a flood while carrying cargo 5 times its body weight.
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Clinton ran a campaign that had her as the Democratic front runner right up until Obama showed up in earnest. Even when it seemed that the Obama train was running full speed ahead, she didn’t step out of the way. When it seemed the numbers were insurmountable, she put her head down and stayed in it to win it.
And when political pundits started calling for her to drop out, Hillary ignored them with the bold determination to finish what she’d started. Nobody was going to tell her she couldn’t win; ironically, Hillary embodied the “Yes We Can” spirit right down to her Primary Night Non-Concession Speech wherein it had been presumed that she would concede the race. But she didn’t concede, and instead focused on the 18 million people who’d voted for her.
In the end, Yes We Can became a Well, We Tried Damn Hard for Hillary Clinton. But that kind of grit didn’t go unnoticed by us – or the Obama camp – and so it is that Hillary, though she didn’t succeed as being the first female President of the United States, will in fact be our next Secretary of State. So in a way, she succeeded in her mission to make it to the White House. Yes, she did.
Stand Up To Cancer
Stand Up To Cancer has a mission cure to cancer by funding the most cutting-edge research available. Towards that end, SU2C partnered with an A-list celebrity lineup to produce a telethon that aired on all major networks and brought in over $100 million for cancer research.
In order to raise additional funds and help folks sport their support for a cure, Stand Up To Cancer launched an online shop carrying SU2C t-shirts, buttons, stickers and other gear. All proceeds from the shop go towards curing cancer, thus allowing people to take part in a cure by virtue of their fashion choice.
SU2C was also the beneficiary of the “Fashion Rocks” broadcast that aired a week later. This special brought together celebrities of sound, stage and style to celebrate fashion, music and the greater good. An original song, “Just Stand Up,” was performed by a range of female artists – all wearing the Stand Up to Cancer t-shirt.
The Stand Up To Cancer camp believes that a cure for cancer – though a monumental task – is within reach. Hats off to them for the “Yes, we can” spirit that dominated airwaves and reminded us all that banding together is the best way to fight the toughest battles.
T. Boone Pickens
Oil billionaire T. Boone Pickens has a plan for reducing both America’s dependency on and investment in foreign oil. That plan hinges largely on the natural energy endemic to the Great Plains – the very force of nature that partnered with earth to define the Dust Bowl, has ruined uncountable hairdos and led to countless runaway kites…
Yep. Wind.
The plan is, appropriately, called The Pickens Plan. With American dependency on foreign oil having increased from 24% to 70% in the last 40 years, the plan goal is to lower that amount by at least 1/3. Pickens calls the United States the “Saudi Arabia of wind power,” and notes that moving into wind will not only reduce our foreign energy investment, but also revitalize the American Midwest with a new energy business. While wind is the cornerstone of the Pickens Plan, it also calls for natural gas to be used in the trucking industry, as well as for a more concerted focus on solar and biofuels for the everyman consumer.
Pickens will also remind Americans not to get complacent with the recent fall in gas prices, noting that OPEC has spent the past several decades lowering oil prices whenever America gets serious about alternative energy. To help their supporters spread the word about their vision, they have a Pickens Plan shop with merchandise available at cost.
Coming up with alternative energy solutions that plan to change the way that Americans live their everyday lives – as well as the American and global economies – may seem like a Herculean challenge, but T. Boone Pickens has a plan and he’s moving full-steam ahead. Pickens seems to be running on the clean energy of sheer will, determination and the “Deliver a plan, plan to deliver” adage. This style of effort, of course, is easily summed up by three little words: “Yes we can.”
The Post wasn’t alone; the New York Times, among others, are also re-running their presses.
And if you feel like wearing a piece of American political history, you can sport the scoop in a scoop neck. The headline reads “Obama Makes History” – and he’s making history again, as this is the first time in our recollection that an election result article was in such high demand that the newspaper itself is offering it on t-shirts.
So don’t wait in line or worry about missing the boat – your reprint is here, and you can either read it or wear it. Or hey, you can do both.
The sentiment among the majority of the nation’s voters is clear this morning: Yes, we can – and Yes, we did.
And in a stirring speech to the Nation, President-elect Obama repeated the familiar mantra that inspired millions – and a huge number of Yes We Can T-shirts – to a cheering crowd that echoed his sentiments on behalf of a beleaguered country with a lot of work ahead of it: Yes, we can.
It would seem that citizens are still voting today with their creativity and their fashion choices; not surprisingly, Yes We Can and Yes We Did are the winners of the day, but the anti-Obama faction is also making it clear that they will not go quietly.
So whether your new mantra is Yes We Can or NOBAMA, you can still make your voice heard. Because this is America, where your freedom of speech allows you to celebrate or criticize the President-Elect within minutes of him winning the office. And you can do it on your bumper, in your yard, on your chest… or you can just make your voice heard in the privacy of your pants.
While many a motivated citizen look forward to the outcome of the election and the start of a new chapter in our political history, there are of course those wearied Americans who are just tired of all the political talk, tired of all the bickering, tired of their regularly scheduled programming being pre-empted for debates and such, and who just want this thing to be over so we can all get back to our everyday business.
And for that wearied, put-upon or apathetic voter, we say: just hang in there. It’s been a long political season, but there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. (Country Western fans and more cynical voters may insert “Let’s just hope it’s not an oncoming train” here.)
And so today we take a recap look at the longest t-shirt election season we’ve seen ’round these parts. We have The Meter to track candidate sales per date ranges, and today we’ll also share a few highlights that hit on this long road to a new President.
Billary was the first to make an appearance on the 2008 political t-shirt scene; we started seeing “Bill for First Lady” shirts back in 2006, long before most of us had heard of that Obama character.
And so it was for awhile; lots of Hillary merchandise on both sides of the fence, as political pundits assumed that she’d be the Democratic nominee and Republicans didn’t have a clear leader in their posse. Some early Hillary standouts:
Indeed, the “Anybody but Hillary” sentiment was a solid Right Wing mantra… right up until that other guy showed up, at which point Republicans were reminded of Mom’s “careful what you wish for” life lesson.
But before Obama was a household name – and seemingly out of nowhere – Ron Paul showed up and gave the other potential candidates a lesson on using the Internet as a viable way to raise a campaign, raise awareness and raise funds.
Though he made huge waves online, Ron Paul – like Howard Dean before him – was unable to carry that momentum out into the world to an extent that would win him the Republican nomination. But to his credit, he managed to inspire a whole lotta people. Not to mention a whole lotta t-shirts.
Huckabee, too, had some early promise in the t-shirt primary, but started to take a dive with Ron Paul and Hillary Clinton, who up to this point had been both the Democratic frontrunner and the Republican anti-Christ.
Which is to say that mainstream Republicans, unsure of their candidate, had been using anti-Hillary sentiments as their go-to mantras.
And then Obama showed up and change did happen. Change in the form of a product explosion unlike anything we’ve seen in previous elections.
Obama merchandise was creative, inspired and staggering in its volume. And as Hillary merch started a slow but steady decline, and John McCain made a minimal appearance that was slightly less popular than Al Gore’s draft movement, the Obama t-shirt primary exploded.
And so we’ll take a time-out to showcase some groovy Obama designs:
It was also around this time that the anti-Obama merchandise started to crop up, but the sheer volume and creative variety of the pro-Obama merchandise far outshone (and outsold) the anti-Obama camp.
With McCain as the presumed and then official Republican nominee, his merchandise popularity began a slow incline. But Obama was still holding a strong lead in the t-shirt race until…
Yep, you betcha. Sarah Palin showed up, and inspired designers on both sides of the political fence went crazy. Pit bulls, rifles and moose – oh my! Yes, Palin t-shirts took McCain t-shirts with them into an upwards curve that actually met the demand for Obama merchandise, while the not-so-plentiful anti-McCain merch also saw an uptick as anti-Palin sentiments seemed to motivate the Left to design something other than Obama t-shirts.
And so it was that in mid-September, there was a dead heat in the McCain/Palin and Obama/Other Politician Dude merchandise race. But that tie was brief, and even with supporters like hockey moms and Russia and the ever-popular Joe the Plumber, Obama again pulled ahead of Palin and McCain by the end of the month and their paths have continued to diverge ever since.
What will happen in today’s election is still an unknown. What we do know is that this election season has led to the most interesting, creative and inspired t-shirt race we’ve ever seen. And for that we thank the First Amendment and, of course, all the people out there who chose to get their mind onto their chests and wear it loud this political season. (Just remember to spare the flair at your polling place.)
Could a t-shirt cost you the right to vote? Well, maybe. It depends on your polling place. E-mails have been circulating about in such a manner as the Nigerian money scam, making internet-savvy folks skeptical about the assertion that their “Geezer/Dingbat” shirt could possibly cost them entry to their polling place.
Now, some call it “electioneering” and some call it “passive electioneering,” which makes slightly more sense given that the actual definition of “electioneering” tells us that it’s to work actively for a campaign or political party. And it’s a stretch to consider a wardrobe choice to be an activity – because unless you’re a nudist, getting dressed is something we all have to do every day, regardless of political involvement.
First Amendment pundits have been pondering whether these kinds of restrictions conflict with our right to Free Speech, with some local Judges making last-minute determinations on the matter.
What’ll happen in your local polling place is a question for your local officials. So please, pass the above PSA along, inform your friends and remember:
With the election growing closer and the recent news of Connecticut legalizing gay marriage making National headlines, the focus on California’s November ballot initiative to deem same-sex marriage unconstitutional is growing sharper, and the debates surrounding the Proposition are growing more heated.
Proposition 8seeks to ban gay marriage by amending the state Constitution with this clause:“Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.” This Proposition was put on the ballot in response to the California Supreme Court’s May ruling that all people have a fundamental and equal right to legally marry the person of their choosing.
Gay marriage has been a hotbed of controversy in California since the 2004 election, and this season we’re seeing a lot of new designs crop up about the issue as well as about Proposition 8 itself. Some are off-the cuff, some are funny, some are serious – and all are trying to make a point. While the protectmarriage.com and No on H8 camps have official gear up on the issue, the vast majority of the designs are simply the voice of a single person with an opinion on the matter.
With designs being an indication of the public discourse, from our end the No on 8/pro equal rights/pro gay marriage folks are far more vocal. Searches for Prop 8, Proposition 8 and gay marriage merchandise lead to results that sway heavily in favor of not discriminating against gay marriage. Which is against Proposition 8. Which is somewhat confusing.
So if you live in California, just remember that on November 4th, Yes = No on gay marriage and No = Yes on gay marriage.
The third and final Presidential debate covered the economy, healthcare, taxation and the VP choices – but none of them were afforded as much attention as Joe the Plumber.
McCain mentioned Joe 21 times and Obama was good for 5 mentions, for a grand total of 26 mentions for Joe the Plumber. By contrast, Iraq came up 6 times. Joe came up more that the economy (16 times) and outshone mention of Sarah Palin and Joe Biden as well. Not surprisingly, we saw Joe the Plumber designs hit the system mid-debate and within a few hours Joe had about 1/4 the content of all plumber designs.
Joe Wurzelbacher (his last name isn’t “The Plumber” after all) became an unlikely hero for the McCain campaign after having a discussion with Obama on the campaign trail about the Illinois Senator’s proposed tax plan. McCain used Joe as an example of a hardworking American (dare we say Joe Six Pack?) who would pay more taxes under the Obama plan.
Obama countered by repeating what he’s been saying throughout the debates: That if you make less than $200,000 a year, your taxes will decrease. This works out to 98% of small business and 95% of America, making some wonder why Joe the Plumber is being held up as an everyman if he’s in the top 5% of small business owners.
It seems Joe was concerned about the principle behind Obama’s plan. He worries that if he someday makes that much money he’ll be penalized for it, and he’s concerned that Obama might at some point lower the taxation thresholds.
Despite being made an instant celebrity thanks to McCain, Joe won’t endorse either candidate and is keeping his vote private.
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.
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.
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.)
Tuesday night’s Presidential debates went off with Tom Brokaw as moderator in a town hall style affair, leading to a couple new buzzwords that have made their way to merchandise.
McCain referred to Obama as “That One” during the debate, which some found insulting and others just found to be fodder for some unique Halloween buttons. (No word on whether this person is handing them out instead of candy this year, but they are available in a 100 pack.)
McCain’s repeated use of “My friends” to introduce his points also resonated with Obama supporters, who are taking the time to remind the Senator that he is not Tom Anderson and they’re not feeling the friend vibe.
Most the commentary out there gives the win for last night to Obama, including more conservative news sources. What the American people thought of this specific debate, of course, will be history in a month – that’s when the voting speaks louder than any candidate buzzword.
The third and final Presidential debate is next Wednesday, October 15th.
It may not seem like a Vice Presidential candidate has a lot in common with a local plumber and a teenage vampire, but then again this was a year of surprises. Sarah Palin, Ron Paul, Joe the Plumber and Edward Cullen showed the kind of impact that can be made when the everyman appeal hits home.
John McCain’s surprise pick of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate spurred a Republican resurgence of energy and a national media frenzy. As Palin fascination grew, the t-shirts came pouring in – Palin actually unseated Obama for a time in the t-shirt primary, thus proving that a Bible-and-Gun-totin’ Hockey Mom could inspire more than her party members. Sarah Palin had a lot of nicknames and colloquiallisms applied to her that lent themselves naturally to merchandise, and many of them had to do with animals – not entirely inappropriate, given that she hails from the bucolic state of Alaska. She was the Cougar, the Barracuda (and the Sarahcuda), the Moose-Hunter, Caribou Barbie and the Pit Bull with Lipstick. She was also the Maverick (and used the term liberally to describe both her and McCain), the Hockey Mom, the MILF and the VPILF. 
Republican Congressman Ron Paul burst onto the 2008 election scene Howard Dean-style. Using the Internet as his canvassing ground, he amassed millions of supporters (The “Ron Paul Revolution“) who viewed the Republican Presidential Candidate from Lake Jackson, Texas as a heroic, no-nonsense, common-sense-talking anti-Bush. Though a Libertarian at heart, Ron Paul has been open about the necessity of running for public office as a Republican in order to have a viable shot at Congress and the Presidency. He is openly critical about President Bush and his administration, particularly as relates to the Iraq war and Bush big government straying from intrinsic Republican values.
Ron Paul hit the t-shirt scene in earnest in late 2007, and saw big sales and interest through early 2008. He outsold McCain until March and outsold all other Republican candidates (with a minor hiccup from Huckabee) throughout the election season. Shunned by the Republican party who later went so far as to try to ban him from the debates, Ron Paul nonetheless showed up and made some Libertarian-style points that won him cheers from his supporters and gave him first-place finishes in online polls by MSNBC, ABC News and C-SPAN. His debate performance simultaneously guaranteed that he wouldn’t be receiving an invitation to the Republican National Convention, and it seemed that thereafter both mainstream media cameras and his own party took painstaking efforts towards pretending that he was Harvey the Rabbit.
Without the money to buy quality airtime and with the cameras aimed elsewhere, Ron Paul used the Internet and in-person speaking engagements to spread his message. His dedication to his ideals and the massive online support he amassed did get people to stand up and take notice, though ultimately – like Dean before him – he was unable to transfer his online popularity into real-world votes. Still, though, Ron Paul made a name for himself as an honest-to-a-fault public servant who stays true to his beliefs and his constituents, and he was the first candidate in the 2008 election to harness the power of the internet to mobilize his message and his supporters.
Joe the Plumber (known as Joe Wurzelbacher by those who can pronounce it) made a name for himself during the third Presidential debate. Better said, John McCain made a name for him (namely, Joe the Plumber), mentioning Joe 21 times. Obama was good for 5 mentions, for a grand total of 26 mentions for Joe the Plumber. By contrast, Iraq came up 6 times and the economy was mentioned 16 times. Joe far outshone mention of Sarah Palin and Joe Biden as well. Not surprisingly, we saw Joe the Plumber designs hit the system mid-debate and within a few hours Joe had about 1/4 the content of all plumber designs.
As it turns out, Joe the Plumber doesn’t actually make $250,000 a year; it seems he was simply concerned about the principle behind Obama’s plan. Despite being made an instant celebrity thanks to McCain, Joe initially wouldn’t endorse either candidate and went on-record that he was keeping his vote private.
As is the case with so many relationships rushed into by two people who barely know each other, the McCain/Wurzelbacher romance hit the rocks a couple weeks later over McCain’s support of the Paulson bailout plan. While Wurzelbacher now says he was “appalled” by McCain at that point and considered moving out (read: getting off the bus), he reconsidered due to their mutual desire to move the Arizona Senator into more modest accommodations in Washington, D.C..
If you haven’t heard of the small town of Forks, Washington or its sparkly resident Edward Cullen, chances are that you don’t have a teenage girl in the house. The real town of Forks is the setting for Stephenie Meyers’ “Twilight” book series, which portrays a love story between teenagers Bella (a mortal and recent transplant to Forks) and Edward Cullen (vampire, baseball player and Forks resident).
Given the avid fan base of “Twilight,” we looked forward to seeing creative, inspired designs – and we weren’t disappointed. Twilight t-shirts immediately filled the fan portal to the tune of almost 450,000 Twilight products as of this writing, and motivated fans were able to wear their own creations – and those of other fans – to the opening night showing.
While Edward Cullen himself is by far the most popular character in the land of t-shirt fandom, there’s also a wide variety of shirts celebrating Bella, Jacob and the story itself. All in all, it’s been a real treat to see the enthusiasm and creativity that “Twilight” enthusiasts have demonstrated over the past few months.
