He has a sense of timing with Bush

SANTA CRUZ — At his independent bookstore in this famously left-leaning town, Neil Coonerty offers bestsellers from both sides of the political spectrum. But there's freedom in owning your own shop: You can make fun of those you don't like.

Over three decades, the 60-year-old former Berkeley radical has skewered his share of conservative authors and politicians -- along with others whose ideas he didn't think were worth the paper they were printed on.

He has sold a Rush Limbaugh book for the price of baloney. In 1995, his Bookshop Santa Cruz included a "barf bag" with every copy of Newt Gingrich's manifesto, "To Renew America."

Now Coonerty has his sights on the Oval Office: He's selling a "Bush Countdown Clock," which displays to a tenth of a second the time left "until Bush goes."

Tongue-in-cheek political barbs have been popular for decades. Especially after the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal, former President Clinton was raked by the sale of such memorabilia as funny money, "Slick Willie" T-shirts and, yes, cigars.

A Bill Clinton presidential countdown clock became a must-have among conservatives. A newer Hillary Clinton senatorial countdown timer is also making the rounds on the Web, marketed by her detractors.

In Bush's contentious second term, Coonerty's clocks -- which feature an unflattering image of the president and an assurance that "Our national nightmare will soon be over" -- have struck an emotional chord.

Coonerty and his two grown children, Ryan and Casey, sold 30,000 timekeepers last year through their Internet site, www.nationalnightmare.com, and at scores of independent bookstores and gift shops -- not just in Santa Cruz, but in red states such as Mississippi and even in Bush's own Texas.

The clocks, which sell for $11.98 in the store and $9.95 online, have become popular gag gifts in Democratic circles. Sen. Barbara Boxer has one. So does former California gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides.

Bill Clinton also has one, compliments of historian Arthur Schlesinger. Television producer Norman Lear bought 50 and has handed them out to friends. One of the Dixie Chicks wrote about the clock on her Web log. The website has received orders from as far away as Germany and China.

Coonerty, now a Santa Cruz County supervisor, said his novelty timekeeper has its critics, who contend such humor demeans the office of the president. One e-mail writer wanted to know "if the clocks were being manufactured in Osama bin Laden's cave," he said.