Hart for America Oregon Poster

Advert for Marion Co. Hart Rally

As a trained political junkie (i.e a holder of a political science degree) I am constantly fascinated by the campaigns that have come and gone. One of the campaigns to set up in Oregon in the past 30 years is the 1984 Gary Hart campaign, which by the way it has been exactly 30 years since the Hart campaign came to Oregon.

Hart was running against former Vice President Walter Mondale. If you are partial to the insurgent/establishment breakdowns of political campaigns then this would be of a similar contest to the Clinton-Obama race of 2008, for those not familiar with the dynamic of the 84 Democratic primaries.

Political organizations depend on people and candidates go where they have people. In the spring of 1984 a group of Marion County, Oregon organizers got Gary Hart to appear for a rally at the courthouse in downtown Salem as apart of his swing through the state. Here is a photo from the rally.

I'm guessing that Senator Hart is just behind the big flock of hair in the photo. This photo was given to me by my friend Liz. She was one of the many dedicated organizers who ran the Marion County for Hart organization.

Americans with Hart Montana button

Was able to add this Montana Gary Hart pin from his 1984 campaign to my collection this weekend. I thought I found a really great Democratic primary campaign item. Having done a good deal of reading and research on the 1984 election in general, I had a fair understanding of the dynamics of the race between Mondale, Hart and Jackson. What I didn't anticipate was seeing on the results map was the uncommitted slot winning the 1984 Montana Democratic Primary.

I knew then, I had to do a little more digging to find out how this came to be. Gary Hart seems to be a candidate that should have won the primary, being a Senator from neighboring Colorado.

Earlier in year, back in March of 1984 Montana Democrats had met for a Caucus. Hart would beat Mondale in the caucus and gain 11 of the 19 delegates up for grabs. Mondale would take 8 and the remaining 6 were unpledged super delegates that could vote for whomever they wanted.

Happy Valentines Day

May you find that special political item you've always wanted today. Just going to show a little love to Valentine related items.


While I have only one Valentine specific item, the great thing about our hobby is lots of people can share their collections easily.

This Reagan card was shared by Joe McClusky. It is from his 1976 campaign.

Here is a Howard Dean related item from my collection.

It is 3", and I believe it was made by Graphic Politics.

Reagan Campaigns in Oregon Birthday Edition

Former President Ronald Reagan turns 103 this year. 2014 marks the tenth year from his passing. He was the first U.S. President to pass away in the 21st century and it happened right during a presidential election. President Bush was overseas in Paris at the time and Democratic nominee John Kerry suspended his campaign until after the funeral. It was the first state funeral I had ever had the chance to see as it was happening. President Nixon was the last President to pass away during my lifetime and had refused a state funeral.

OR Reagan pin

My Reagan collection is very small, maybe not even 100 items. Reagan does manage to fit into several of my collecting interests. His gubernatorial items are always nice, as they fit into my celebrity political collection and then of course his Oregon items. Reagan was also the first President to visit a Star Trek set so that fits down into my Star Trek collection. Today we're going to focus on his Oregon campaign relics. APIC member Winston Blair I think has one of the most well documented modern Ronald Reagan collections.

It may be surprising to many that the same Oregon that voted twice for Barack Obama; for John Kerry; for Al Gore; twice for Bill Clinton and even gave 7 electoral votes for Micheal Dukakis also twice picked Ronald Reagan for President. It's been 28 years since Reagan won Oregon. He was the last national Republican to do so. George W. Bush has come the closest to carrying Oregon. He was 6700 some odd votes shy of beating Al Gore in 2000.

Joan Mondale Remembered

1984 pin

Joan Mondale passed away on Monday. She was a veteran of three presidential campaigns, various statewide campaigns for U.S. Senator and Attorney General of Minnesota. She herself was never a candidate, she just ended up marrying Walter 'Fritz' Mondale, who would himself seek the White House in 1984.

Keynoter: Stevenson Hole in Shoe Update

In the Spring 2013 issue of the Keynoter, an update is given on a Winter 2012 article regarding Adlai Stevenson famous hole in shoe photograph and the items that surround the famous photo both from the Stevenson campaign and the Eisenhower campaign. Richard Rector and John Vargo both submitted additions. I found another such throwback to the Stevenson campaign.Here is a photo is from Gary Hart in 1984.