Shop The Vote!
Online T-Shirt Shoppers Pick the Next President of the United States
LA Times/PRNewswire
SACRAMENTO -- Several hours before a single polling place opened its doors on November 2, one virtual "precinct" had already tabulated the votes and announced the winners; T-ShirtCountdown.com has called this race for John Kerry and John Edwards, according to site owner Rodney Blackwell.
Visitors to T-ShirtCountdown.com have been casting their votes for "the most popular t-shirt on the internet" all summer, in a showdown often mimicking the ups and downs of the high-stakes political battle between the controversial incumbent, George W. Bush, and the liberal senator from Massachusetts. While t-shirts trumpeting the GOP standard bearer lead the polls in the months running up to Election Day, often with stinging jabs at the Kerry camp, in the end it was a positive message of "HOPE. NOT FEAR" which topped the crowded field of over 1700 candidates.
"Political t-shirts are hot this year. Pro Bush and Anti-Bush designs have dominated the t-shirt countdown for the last few months. If October's results are any indication of the political climate, John Kerry will be our next president, come Wednesday ... or whenever the courts decide," said Blackwell.
The winning entry was designed by Rob McGrath, one of dozens of decidedly anti-Bush offerings sold through his political web site NotBannedYet.US. A cartoonist and graphic designer by trade, McGrath began "NBY" over two years ago as a showcase for his own political cartoons. "I use my cartoons to bring traffic to my site, in the hopes that visitors will want to buy a shirt or bumper sticker while they're there," he says. "I haven't exactly been able to pay the rent, but the larger issue for me was correcting the travesty that was the 2000 election."
Ironically, if McGrath is ultimately successful in this latest endeavor, he'll find himself among the legion of other similar online entrepreneurs who will be soon searching for a new cause. "I don't mind at all. This is what it's all about," offered McGrath. "It's pure America ... raising your voice, fighting injustice...and selling it on a t-shirt!"
Blackwell's T-ShirtCountdown.com is an online directory showcasing t-shirt designs in a broad range of categories. Visitors to the site can view, shop and vote for some of the most popular t-shirts designs offered online, from a variety of web sites. T-ShirtCountdown.com is visited by over 50,000 voters each month, and each month a new t-shirt is design is voted "The Most Popular T-Shirt On The Net."
