Politics and fashion do mix

What's written on your thong?
By HEATHER SVOKOS
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
While your dad is slipping into his "Bush Kills Terrorists Dead" T-shirt, you're across town tightening the strings on your "Anyone But Bush" hoodie, rolling your eyes at your spouse's smart new messenger bag, the yellow one with the logo: "Vote For GW: Say NO to Mr. Ketchup."
In this election year, the load of political attire online is staggering: bibs, bags, tees, ties, lunchboxes, shirts for your dog. And the list takes some pretty weird turns. There are thongs, people. Thongs!
The 2004 presidential campaign is setting a new bar -- clothes bar -- for political couture.
"Because more people are using the Web, the campaigns are also using the Web as a tool for outreach," says Maheesh Jain, a co-founder of Cafe Press, an online clearinghouse for all manner of merchandise. "So you have a lot more political discussion happening online."
And so follows the merchandise.
Simple messages
Not every T-shirt or ball cap is touting Bush or Kerry. Some groups transcend party lines to spread a simple, cheery message: Vote or Die.
That's the slogan of the nonpartisan Citizen Change, founded by music mogul P. Diddy, and backed up by the likes of Mary J. Blige and 50 Cent. The group aims to "hip young people to the hustle of the politics by educating them about the power of their vote."
But most of the online garb does push a narrow agenda, such as Right Wing Stuff and the Austin-based See Ya George, run by a company called Two Unemployed Democrats.
Slogans range from the relatively straightforward (Luvya Dubya; Re-defeat Bush) to the clever and subversive (Not Fonda Kerry; John Kerry: Bringing Complete Sentences Back to the White House).