SPRINGFIELD - During President-elect Barack Obama's campaign, the Internet was bustling with people selling T-shirts, key chains and pretty much anything else you could print the candidate's likeness on.

When Gov. Rod Blagojevich was arrested on federal corruption charges last week, the same thing happened. But the results were less flattering.

Within hours of Blagojevich's arrest, sometimes-amateur artists began uploading various designs to CafePress.com. It's a Web site where people can buy and sell T-shirts, coffee mugs and various other merchandise bearing designs of artists from anywhere in the world.

In Blagojevich's case, artists tried to capitalize on the news with designs featuring phrases such as "Insanevich," "Don't Blame me, I voted for Judy," and any number of much more profane offerings.

A check of eBay.com finds similar items, including Blagojevich autographs on Chicago Cubs memorabilia.

A spokesman for Blagojevich didn't return a request for comment.

CafePress is offering about 16,700 products featuring Blagojevich using 414 designs.

Rick Bibb, and associate professor of marketing at Millikin University in Decatur, said the bevy of Blagojevich merchandise isn't unlike mass Internet retailing based on other special events or news stories.

The Olympics draw lots of interest, for example. So do elections, and Obama products topped 3 million on CafePress.

But if someone has a good marketing idea based on the recent Blagojevich news, they'd better act fast, Bibb said. Markets for Internet-sold novelty products won't be around once headlines disappear.

"These markets don't last long," Bibb said.

CafePress spokesman Marc Cowlin said the same deluge of political merchandise popped up when former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer was accused of visiting with a prostitute.

"Our users are very self-expressive," Cowlin said.

Some users also tend to be profane, too. Lots of T-shirts borrow from the affidavit used to charge Blagojevich. The document alleges the governor is caught with a wiretap having profanity-laced conversations about selling the state's empty Senate seat.

Cowlin says his Web site monitors potentially offensive content, but there aren't any strict rules on harsh language.

"It's a gray area," Cowlin said. "We definitely don't want anything to go too far."