The creators of the Blue Funds (blue as in Democratic states) are putting a partisan twist on values-based investing. Our advice: beware. First, managers of the small- and large-cap funds look for companies that meet standard “socially responsible investment” benchmarks in areas like environmentalism and labor relations. Then, they remove from the list any company whose PAC gives more than half its political donations to Republicans. The www.bluefund.com website shows a suitably diverse crowd of investors holding up placards (“Human Rights or Oil Rights?” “Love or War?”) and suggests that Democrats can, by investing in the fund, feel good and get good returns.

How good? The funds, launched in mid-October, have no track record. Investments include such stocks as Apple Computer, TimeWarner Telecom, and Fannie Mae. But stock-picking has to be exceptional to overcome an exorbitant expense ratio of 1.5 percent. The funds’ creators may love humanity, but they don’t mind gouging human shareholders.

Also, don’t confuse the new Blue Funds with Brandywine Blue, a large-cap growth fund that is suitable for investors with a taste for lower expenses, longer track records, and great performance. Over the five years ending November 30, 2006, the fund returned an annual average of 10 percent, whipping the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index by four points. Oh, by the way, Brandywine Blue is owned by Friess Associates, a Delaware firm whose founder, Foster Friess, is a prominent Republican donor. Mother Jones, a magazine of the left, once wrote that Friess is so successful that “even the state Democratic Party chairman” invests with him. Lesser Democrats, pay heed.