Clintons good for a conservative business

Tuesday, June 27, 2006 | 8:37 a.m.

Gene McDonald's laugh is so robust it startles: Is he OK?

Once the all-clear is given, though, it becomes a joyful noise, a laugh well matched with a slap on the back or a doubling over.

Nearly three hours of conversation are bracketed by these endorphin-inducing laughter fits brought on by stories, zingers, bits of irony.

In between, however, it's mostly serious business. Certain key words and phrases, such as "Clinton" and "first World Trade Center bombing," bring the blood to McDonald's otherwise fair face. When it comes to the liberals, as far as McDonald is concerned, there are so many outrages, so little time.

During the 2000 Florida recount debacle, he was right there, bullhorn in hand, protesting. He knows the most arcane esoterica of the recount, which is not surprising since it was a defining moment for him and many like him.

McDonald, 57, is emblematic of a new class of political activists on the right and left who were animated by Florida 2000. They are wired to the Web, caffeinated, unyielding, fairly new to politics.

Lucky for McDonald, he found a business perfect for this duality of big laughs and conservative zeal. He sells memorabilia from his Las Vegas home that is funny, clever and dead-on, or, depending on your politics, ignorant, insulting and juvenile.

On his Web site, 0cents.com (that's a zero, not an "O") and at conservative gatherings, McDonald sells T-shirts, stamps, coffee mugs and the like depicting, for instance, a drawing of the Earth and the slogan: "Earth First. We'll mine & log the others later."

Another has a picture of the classic Uncle Sam image, with the words, "Liberals! I want YOU to move to Canada!"

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., is a favorite target of McDonald's satire. One design has her with a Pinocchio nose.

Wouldn't McDonald just love her to be the Democrats' nominee in 2008?

At first, he looks sickened by the possibility of a Clinton restoration. But then, "Well, it'd be good for business!"

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha ...

The Clintons, in fact, drew McDonald to politics. He grew up in New Jersey and has lived all over, including a few years in Germany, selling medical devices. He didn't have deep-seated political convictions.

Then he and his wife moved to Florida in 1992 and Sun Belt conservatism took hold, just as the wily Bill Clinton began fooling the American public, to hear McDonald tell it.

Back then, he was an early user of the conservative Web site, Free Republic.

He stood at an intersection with a sign calling for Clinton's impeachment in 1998.

A guy sucker-punched him, McDonald says.

Game on.

"There is a battle going on, a culture war," he says, suddenly serious. (Early on in the conversation, Rush Limbaugh is on the radio in the background before he turns it off.)

He made stamps of Clinton behind prison bars and sold 15 million of them from a Web site, jailtothechief.com.

He also is no stranger to self-mockery or a little irony.

His screen saver, for instance, shows classic American scenes: an American flag on a leafy street, purple mountains majesty, dirty hands holding a football and women in bikinis.

McDonald now travels to 10 or 15 Republican state party conventions per election year, plus big gatherings such as the Conservative Political Action Conference.

He and his wife moved to Las Vegas in 2003 to be closer to family. Now, in addition to his memorabilia business, he co-owns a company that sells what's called the "Ballbrella." It's an umbrella that golfers can also use to retrieve their golf ball when they hit it in the drink.

Price on ballbrella.com: $39.95.

Price for a box of 12 Callaway golf balls: $39.95.

Funny, because McDonald gave up golf a few years ago, out of frustration, he says:

"That stupid golf ball just sits there and looks at ya."

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha