George HW Bush Medford Button

In the heat of the 1992 campaign President George H.W. Bush made one of only three trips to Oregon during his term in the White House. He spoke at a lumber mill to workers from Southern Oregon and California. This was during the height of the 'spotted owl vs workers' debate and the 1992 presidential campaign in Oregon lay open the clear divisions between the urban and rural divide.

Here is some video coverage of the event. Watch NEWS CAST

This trip produced one button.

George HW Bush Letterhead from 1980

The next item this week we are going to present from the campaigns of George Herbert Walker Bush is a sample of letterhead from his 1980 Oregon Primary campaign. I was able to pick this sample up from eBay a couple years ago from a local seller in West Linn, Oregon. The lot came with a sample of the letterhead, envelope and campaign brochure.

Oregon items of George H.W. Bush

There are sure to be lots of tributes and objective analyses  over the next several weeks to the life and legacy of George Herbert Walker Bush. In this post, we will  start to take a look at some of the campaign items originating from Oregon that you can find out there.

George Bush ran three campaigns here in Oregon for President (1980, 1988, and 1992), he was also on the ballot for Vice President in 1980 and 1984. We'll focus on items from his presidential campaigns first then round out with some select Reagan-Bush items from 1980 and 1984.

Richard Neuberger Bumper Sticker

Picked up this bumper sticker from the successful 1954 campaign of Richard Neuberger. He was the first Democrat to be elected to the U.S. Senate from Oregon since 1914. He won by a little over 2,000 votes out of half a million cast in the election.

He served along side Wayne Morse, and their famous feud is well documented. A noted journalist of America, the Pacific Northwest and politics. Nueberger was a natural storyteller. He wrote many articles for dozens of publications during his life. Some were even collected into books. I have not had great luck finding Neuberger for Senate items over the years. This was the first thing on Ebay I think I have ever purchased for Neuberger.

Most of the time you can find the Conservationists for Neuberger items. There is a seed pack that was designed for sportsman to disperse in the wild to make up for the grass they trample on while hunting. The other item that has been seen frequently in collections is the Conservationists for Neuberger tab. Blogger Andy Kerr has written a little bit about Neuberger's conservation work at his blog.

Who Was Delegate Jim Harrison?

In my collecting adventures recently I came across this John F. Kennedy 1960 delegate badge owned and worn by Jim Harrison. It didn't take me long to find out more information on Harrison.

Remembering John McCain in Oregon

Bush and McCain campaigning in Oregon 2000

With the passing of Arizona Senator John McCain, I thought it might be interesting to look at some of the political items generated by his campaign, especially the Oregon items. During the historic 2008 presidential election, McCain made one swing through Oregon right before the May primary.  Yet, he still managed to make it to the Beaver State several times before and after his 2008 presidential run.

Early Life & Non-Campaign Visits

John McCain found himself standing next to Oregonian Gary Hill in one of the most widely used photos of a young John McCain completing a flight training. The photo was used a lot during his 2008 campaign. The Bend Bulletin covered the life of Gary Hill and his connection with McCain in this article.

We know, thanks to Jeff Mapes that he came to Oregon in 1993 to headline an Oregon Citizens Alliance fundraiser in Portland. You can read about that here: McCain 1993 visit.

Part of the deal for McCain coming to headline the dinner was to help keep Bob Packwood from getting a social conservative primary or third-party challenger in the '92 campaign. Lon Mabon, the leader of the OCA would eventually run for the U.S. Senate in 1996. Finishing with only 8% of the Republican Primary vote. Here is a Mabon for Senate button. McCain kept his word, even if Oregon's other Senator, Mark Hatfield was suggesting he should back out.

In the recap from Jeff Mapes, it mentions Chair of the Oregon Log Cabin Republicans, Mr. Lee Coleman. I know Lee Coleman. By the time I had met Lee he had become a Democrat and was running for the Oregon House in district 26 in 2006. Here is a photo of his button from that campaign.

This visit was unusual because you don't necessarily equate the views of John McCain to the Lon Mabon crowd. He made sure his speech set an appropriate tone that would not offend his hosts nor his supporters that fundamentally disagreed with the OCA. We learned that McCain also met with other local leaders from the NAACP and the local Jewish Federation to help smooth things over. The Seattle Gay News covered more of the speech and fallouts in a 2008 post around the time of the Democratic National Convention.  As soon as he was done with the dinner he bolted for his plane.

WRITE-IN MORSE Found

It has been a really slow year for finding new Wayne Morse items. I really haven't picked up much since January. That all changed the other day. I was getting ready to leave the house for a long day of activities and I randomly decided to login to ebay and look for some political items. That's where I stumbled upon this bumper sticker.

Verne Duncan Sale & Items

This weekend I was able to attend the estate sale of Verne and Donna Duncan. They have recently downsized and moved out of their long time residence. I was able to add a few Duncan items I never had the chance to get over the years. Duncan was the longstanding Superntendent of Public Education in Oregon. He was elected in 1974 and served until 1989.

2020 Convention Button

I was cleaning out a coat pocket and I found a button that my friend Valdez had picked up for me at a recent DNC meeting. It is from the Wisconsin delegation pushing to get the 2020 Democratic National Convention hosted in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Right now there are cities placing bids for host of the 2020 Democratic National Convention. Starting as early as 2017, cities and state parties that want to host the convention develop plans and bids to the DNC.  This 2.25" inch heat sealed cello pin is the kind of thing they will give out. They also had water bottles from what I was told. The article linked above also has pictures of host committee officials in very nice sweaters with the logo of the button below.

Mitch Greenlick: Capitol Letters & Buttons

One of the great joys of also collecting political buttons and working in politics is meeting the candidates behind the button. Over the years I have had the chance to get to know Oregon State Representative Mitch Greenlick. He has represented Washington County and Multnomah County in the legislature since 2002. He first ran in 2000 and was defeated and ran again in 2002 and has won every re-election since (2004,2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, and 2016). He is currently up for re-election in 2018.

There are some buttons that his campaign produced in the early years. All that I have picked up are badge-a-mint produced by supporter Wayne Anderson. For a long time, all I had known about was a 2.25" version. Just this last week I was able to find a 3" version as well!

John Dellenback TV Special

Found this great special from SOPTV about highlighting the life of Congressman John Dellenback. You can watch it here

I recently framed up my Dellenback items. The only thing I have that is not pictured here is a red and white Dellenback tab.

Paul Hanneman Remembered

In 2017 Oregon lost Paul Hanneman. He spent 26 years in the Oregon legislature representing citizens of the central Oregon coast. His home was Pacific City and he was involved in two of the landmark environmental  accomplishments of the late 1960s and early 1970s here in Oregon. The Oregon Bottle Bill when first introduced in 1969 was met with stiff opposition, including opposition from future supporter Governor Tom McCall. Eventually Paul Hanneman and Richard Chambers were eventually able to get McCall on board in 1971 and HB 1036 was passed with a lot of opposition from grocery stores and the beverage industry. Hanneman was the sponsor of the legislation.

First Official 2020 Items!

Well I made my first official donation to a 2020 Presidential candidate to get some buttons this month. Andrew Yang is probably a long shot of long shots, but at least he has a campaign store!

There are buttons and stickers for the traditional collectors and other items like shirts and tech stickers (smaller stickers for your laptop or phone case). 

For 10 dollars I got two buttons and two stickers. They are pictured below. His campaign site is here: www.yang2020.com and his STORE

Mystery of the DNC Badge

I stumbled upon an interesting find in the wilds of Oregon. This 1972 Democratic National Convention delegate badge and ribbon. I purchased it from a woman in Dayton, Oregon. She had purchased it from an estate seller in Salem, Oregon who told her she had picked it up at a storage/estate sale in Salem.

Oregon's Measure 101: All that's left are the Mailers

Oregon just finished its first January Special Election in about a decade. Voters in Oregon got a ballot near the start of the month that had one quetion on it. The people voted and the YES side won. Was there anything leftover for collectors? Not much. My home recieved at least three different YES mailers. I picked up some walk lit and other campaign documents that I was involved in during the election itself and one button from my group. Other than that, it seems most collectors will only get a mailer to remember this election.

Clint Eastwood Collection

One of the neat things about collecting political items are all the side collections people induldge in. One of mine is Celebrity Politics. Candidates who were famous before they entered politics in media and pop culture. For a long time I had been looking for a Clint Eastwood for Mayor pin. From what I understood he only ran one campaign for Mayor of Carmel, California. I figured I wouldn't be able to find much. That all changed last week.

Inouye Pin Turns Up in Beaverton

While out on a day trip through various second hand stores and antique shops I stumbled upon this wonderful pin from the early career of Dan K. Inouye. Most Oregonians have probably never heard of Inouye. He was the first member of Congress ever from the state of Hawaii. Elected, he took office the same day Hawaii became a state.

APIC Members host Civil Rights Display

APIC Members Ed Rosney and Carl Fisher put on a public display for MLK Jr. Day 2018 celebrating the Civil Rights Movement. Enjoy a video they made to show off the display!