Democratic presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are running neck-and-neck in Iowa based on unofficial sales of campaign buttons, T-shirts and other paraphernalia. So says one entrepreneur cashing in on the spending juggernaut that is the Iowa caucuses.
 
Royce Vaughn and his Oakland, California-based outfit, Shop Political, don’t have ties to any particularly candidate but are welcomed — or at least tolerated — by the candidates outside campaign stops across the country.
 
On Tuesday, Vaughn and his team of salesmen shivered in the afternoon chill outside a barn in Amana, Iowa, hawking buttons for Clinton. The next day, they hawked merchandise outside an Obama event in Bettendorf.
 
“Button vending goes back to Abraham Lincoln’s time, when they were made out of paper. We use only high-quality materials, union-made,” Vaughn said. 
 
For $5 each or three for $10, supporters could express their hopes for an Obama victory. One quotes a Franklin Roosevelt’s slogan, “Happy Days Are … .” Another pink-colored button has a woman’s face and Obama’s and reads “Hot Chicks Dig Obama,” (appearing to reference a widely seen video featuring a voluptuous songstress singing Obama’s praises).
 
Vaughn and his band pitch paraphernalia for just about any candidate — but only for the candidate making that day’s appearance.  “We can’t afford to offend anyone,”

He donates some of the profits to the two parties’ national committees. But Vaughn definitely knows his politics and offered comments about several candidates, but wouldn’t declare his own allegiance.
 
“Based on sales, I’d say Hillary and Obama are very close in Iowa,” he said. “On the Republican side, its (Mitt) Romney and (Rudy) Giuliani.”
 
Planned for the company’s Web site, http://www.shoppolitical.com/ (which was not up as of this writing) Vaughn said a pseudo-poll will indicate each party’s respective campaign paraphernalia sales, but doesn’t expect it will impress mainstream pollsters. 
 
Can buttons, bumper stickers, T-shirts and yard signs sway an election? They certainly can’t hurt, and might indicate momentum, Vaughn said.