The People Business

DES MOINES - There's a section on Iowa's income tax returns where taxpayers have the opportunity to donate $1.50 to their favorite major political party.
True, many of us don't have a favorite party. And most of us would rather use six quarters to buy a couple candy bars, a cup of coffee or perhaps a tasty burrito.
But thousands of Iowans see it differently. Last year their $1.50 donations added up to more than $143,000 for the state Democrat and Republican parties.
That's a lot of burritos. But that's not exactly how they spent it.
The Republican Party of Iowa used much of its $63,379.50 share to annoy other Republicans, according to finance documents filed with the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board.
The GOP sent $44,376 in check-off funds to Feather, Larson and Synhorst, or FLS, in Phoenix. The company has raked in millions of dollars from Republican campaigns and state parties by delivering, as its website says, "the right message to the right people at the right time." The site also carries a glowing endorsement from Karl Rove.
FLS delivers that message via telemarketing-style phone calls, including calls featuring the recorded voices of political celebrities. You may remember that curious call from Chuck Grassley where he kept interrupting you as you begged him to mow your lawn. It wasn't really Chuck, it was only virtual Chuck.
Iowa Republicans also sent more than $16,000 to a Texas-based firm, Olsen and Shuvalov, to make fund-raising calls.
Democrats spent their $79.666.28 on everything under the sun - utility bills, office supplies, cleaning services, insurance, trash collection and even $100 for mowing services. (Chuck was busy.) They also spent more than $4,000 on T-shirts.

VILSACK WEAR - Gov. Tom Vilsack may be uncertain about his presidential future, but don't tell that to the folks at cafepress.com - home of the Tom Vilsack for President 2008 Online Shop.
The website has created presidential merchandise lines for several would-be White House wannabes, including Iowa's governor, with hopes of cashing in on forward-thinking political junkies.
Vilsack's logo features his cartoon image - admittedly it looks a little like a smiling thumb - set against a U.S. flag backdrop with "Tom Vilsack For President 2008" emblazoned across the bottom. An organic cotton T-shirt can be had for $18.99. A Vilsack coaster is $5.50. The site has no affiliation with Vilsack.
But the online store is not the only way Vilsack's ambitions are fueling e-commerce. Three website domains - vilsackforpresident.org, vilsack2008.com and tomvilsack2008.com - have been purchased, just in case. The latter two are owned by a pair of New Jersey companies that sell website domains.
But vilsackforpresident.org is owned by Eric Woolson, who worked as a spokesman for President Bush's Iowa campaign and for former Republican Gov. Terry Branstad. He now does consulting work for the Republican Party of Iowa.
Woolson became master of the domain in 2003 and says he's hanging on to it. But he isn't looking for a profit. "I'd probably set up my own website that would tell the real Tom Vilsack story," Woolson said.

WWW.FENDER-BENDER.COM - State Rep. Kurt Swaim, D-Bloomfield, has filed a bill that would allow Iowans to put a website address on their license plate. Under the bill, Iowans who pay an extra $35 could substitute a web address for the county name printed at the bottom of the plate. Any extra money raised would go to fund youth shelters, Swaim said.
He got the idea on a trip to Florida where he read a news article on how much money is raised by dozens of special license plates offered in the Sunshine State.
Swaim assumes most website plates would be used to promote a business, although he concedes sites with religious and political messages could get mixed in. He's still working out the bugs, but he admits the bill faces a steep uphill drive.

Todd Dorman is Statehouse bureau chief for Lee Enterprises newspapers. He can be reached at (515) 243-0138 or at todd.dorman@lee.net.