Been there, saw that, got the T-shirt

Anytime you go near a local political event these days you'll find T-shirts of different colors pushing different agendas.

It's almost trite, but the multi-colored panoply gives those wearing the garb a daring chance to get the candidate to pick them in a question-and-answer session.

They were out in force at events held last week by Democratic presidential candidates Barack Obama, John Edwards and Hillary Clinton, and they're also making the rounds at local political clubs on both sides of the aisle.

Back at the home offices, this is referred to as the early states campaign. And the amorphous goal of "raising awareness" is met simply by asking a question at a public event or getting someone to take a free T-shirt or sign a petition.

Even if you're not color blind, it's hard to distinguish who stands for what, at first.

Here's a quick key for anyone who was really wondering.

Black T-shirts are for One.org, the group seeking to raise awareness about global poverty. They are often accompanied by white wristbands -- a real ebony and ivory approach. One.org has been on the ground here the longest and has made significant headway enlisting new members and picking up free media.

Then you have the not-so-subtle purple of "Health Care Voters." These shirts either say "Nevadans for Health Care" or "I'm a Health Care Voter." Either way, they're strikingly similar to the colors worn by the Service Employees International Union. In fact, the whole Health Care Voter campaign is run by SEIU, in part because getting people to don the purple shirt expands the union's visibility.

The red "Divided We Fail" shirts are an AARP campaign designed to raise awareness about seniors issues, particularly Medicare and health care.

Pink is a campaign by Planned Parenthood to put attention on reproductive health issues.

I've also bumped into peace groups and a global warming committee making the rounds in hopes of getting signatures on a petition or simply getting candidates to add their issue to the stump speech.

By wearing an obvious T-shirt, it's easier to get the candidate's attention when they turn to the audience for questions. In a way, the T-shirt telegraphs the question. You would not expect, for example, the three pink-shirted ladies who craned to get Clinton's attention last Sunday to push the senator on Iran.

One of the more unusual campaigns to come along for the buildup to Nevada's Jan. 19 presidential caucus is using just about every color in the spectrum.

This campaign revolves around the typically boring pie chart and bar graph, yet somehow the economic issues that are central to the Priorities Campaign are getting eaten up everywhere.

Perhaps it's because they go down as easily as the Oreos tossed from an unwieldy Oreomobile.

Aaron Rubin is the Oreo wrangler for the campaign, which was launched by Ben Cohen of Ben & Jerry's ice cream fame. The whole purpose is to highlight the percentage of the federal budget spent on defense versus everything else.

That's where the pie chart comes in handy. By showing the vastness of the defense component as red, the person holding the chart or throwing it around on a flexible Frisbee can see the comparably small amounts devoted to health care, education and the like.

Rubin got to Nevada on Oct. 1 after spending several weeks crossing South Carolina, another early primary state. It was on the eve of President Bush's visit to Reno, and it gave the Oreomobile a good start. Since then he's been to two to three events a day.

"The message resonates across the political spectrum," said Rubin, who sold commercial real estate in New York City prior to this campaign.

The reason for the Oreos is made clear by an animated version of Cohen on the campaign's Web site: www.PrioritiesCampaign.org.

"I'm a dessert guy, so when I think of a serious problem, I think of dessert," Cohen says on the site.

The campaign is centered on the $400 billion Pentagon budget. Cohen said if you think of the budget in terms of Oreos worth $10 billion apiece, you can understand it more easily.

The Oreomobile stack is 13 feet tall. Thankfully, the cookies Rubin hands out are not as large. The goal is to take five "cookies" from the Pentagon pile. One would go to schools, one to reduce America's dependency on foreign oil and two to feed the world's starving children. Half a cookie would provide health insurance and a quarter cookie would fund Head Start for every child.

The other quarter cookie, Cohen says, you can eat.

Rubin said his message is catching on particularly well through the religious community and on the Democratic side of the aisle.

Some on the right, including military veterans, had to be won over.

"Initially they say they're skeptical," Rubin said. "Then I talk about all the obsolete weapons that make up almost 12 percent of the entire budget. These guys have seen it up front and they start to agree."

So if you're at an event and someone is throwing pie chart Frisbees, go outside and look for the Oreomobile.

Not only might you see the federal budget a little differently, you might also get to satisfy your sweet tooth.

Contact Erin Neff at eneff@reviewjournal.com or (702) 387-2906.