COLUMBIA, S.C. - A donkey decorated tie: $50. A tank of gas to a campaign rally: $35. Showing pride as a South Carolina Democrat: Priceless.

A MasterCard bearing the South Carolina Democratic Party's logo of a U.S. flag blended with the South Carolina flag is a new fundraising tool that earmarks cash for the party based on a how much a person spends.

"It's a great potential source of small-dollar donations," Lachlan McIntosh, executive director of the South Carolina Democratic Party, said Thursday.

South Carolina is among 32 states that offer the Democratic card through Juniper Bank of Delaware. The state party earns $1 for every 100 points of charges. Also, it receives $45 for every new card that is used once.

McIntosh said he did not know how many people had signed up for the card, which was only recently offered on the party's Web site. "It's not something we've pushed real hard, yet," he said.

Credit cards have been created for nearly every conceivable affinity from universities to charities to sports fans, each of which have raked in tons of rewards.

"If other groups can do it ... why couldn't the political party," said Mark Brewer, president of the Association of State Democratic Chairs, which helps coordinates the card. "You've got to be creative when you look for money."

Brewer, who is also the chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party, said so far, his party has earned about $20,000 since his state first offered its party loyalists some political plastic in 2003.

"It's a way of making contributions without taking additional money out of their pockets," Brewer said.

The money earned off the credit card is treated like an individual's donation, which is reported with the name, mailing address, occupation and employer of a cardholder whose contributions exceed $200 in a calendar year. Individuals can donate up to $10,000 a year to a political party.

Republicans have turned down offers to create their own card.

"I thought it was inappropriate," said Katon Dawson, chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party. "Our message is that we're a conservative party that lives within its means."

Dawson said it shows the Democrats are desperate to raise cash in a GOP-dominated state.

"They can't raise money, and it's gimmick after gimmick," Dawson said. "Their message is about as plastic as the credit card."

McIntosh's response: "We just depend on regular people. They depend on (Gov.) Mark Sanford's special-interest friends."

---

On the Net: South Carolina Democratic Party: http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/breaking_news/www.scdp.org