I have a friend who works with Franken ...

Designers: James Victore, Jonathan Barnbrook, Steve Heller, Stefan Sagmeister.

After some brainstorming with Debbie last night, we came up with some more names:

Carol Wells, David Rees, Tom Tomorrow, Edward Tufte, Edwin Schlossberg, Isaac Mizrahi, Dave Eggers.

Thoughts? More names?

Not to be too crass (I hope) but depending on how you want to market this effort, you might consider going more mainstream with your celeb judges.

Unless Nader siphons them off, Kerry already has the vote of everyone who thinks Tom Tomorrow is da bomb. Kerry needs the votes of people who think Tom Tomorrow is just a bit tetched in the head.

Mark -- there are two different issues. One is that of appealing to swing voters, as you pointed out. The other is that of increasing voter turnout amongst core voters. People who love Tom Tomorrow may not vote for Bush, but they might well stay home. Bush is mobilizing the evangelical right (see some of the stuff coming out of education department lately), we also need to mobilize our base.

All of that said, Mark has a very good point. Who is our target audience for this apparal?

I think the target audience for submitting, voting on, and BUYING the apparel is confirmed liberal scum like us. I think the target audience for SEEING the clever slogans and designs on the chests/backs of C.L.S. and possibly being swayed by it is everybody, especially swing voters. And don't forget the fundraising aspect of the idea--the apparel isn't the only end goal.

I'd LOVE having Michael Kinsley as a judge, but maybe that's just me. I don't think having non-liberal judges would make any sense. Either people want Bush out or they don't...and if they're not sure, how will they be able to judge which designs best espouse that idea?

One note: T-shirt season is upon us! Today I saw people happily stripping off jackets on the street. We should remember that people become less interested in buying T-shirts come September, which is just when we'd be most keen to get people's attention. We should also think long-sleeve, sweatshirts, and hats.

Thongs. I see Kerry thongs in our future... Or maybe not.

Emily's right--get pub amongst the base with Tom Tomorrow types. Fence-sitters aren't going to wear the shirts, we are. Tom Tomorrow, Atrios, Kos (of Daily Kos), etc. If we released all the designs under a Creative Commons license, we could get Larry Lessig (although that's reeeeealy inside baseball--but he's my con law prof so I know we could get him).

Hi folks. Instead of being the treasurer, I'm going to handle organizing the panel of judges (under he unofficial name of judge wrangler). So you can post your suggestions here or email me directly. I'll compile a list of all the suggestions and then post it so we can figure out whom we want to ask first.

Ran across this related item: did you know the entreprenuer who got razzed for creating the 'Voting Is for Old People' t-shirt is Branford class of 2001. Anyway, might be worth checking if he'd be interested in some ironic civic redemption as either a vendor or a judge?