2020 Political Buttons Part 2

Back in May, we started highlighting the items generated by the 2020 presidential campaigns. You can read Part 1. We have prepared another installment with a run down of more items generated by the campaigns and grassroots groups supporting them.

Many of the campaigns have turned to a Texas company called 'BumperActive'. It is very uncommon for so many campaigns to use the same vendor as their official source of campaign materials. Some campaigns are not using this company (notably Joe Biden,  Andrew Yang, Marianne Williamson). Some campaigns even switched over from their previous vendor to BumperActive (Cory Booker). All this is to say, that there are a lot of items out there if you are interested in getting some from a campaign this cycle.

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.

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.

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!

2016 Democratic Primary Pins

Every election there are groups out there that produce pins featuring the entire field of candidates for any particular political party. The Democrats of 2016 were no exception. Conventions and special events that all candidates were invited to often saw a button, poster or sticker produced for it. Here are some that I was able to get this last year.

IKE Felt Elephant

Picked this up at local flea market this winter. It was amazing to find, as we often don't find Oregon political items in Oregon at local markets.

The tag says that it was made by Washington County Republican Women. Mine is missing. We do not have a firm date on this item. Either from 1952 or 1956.

Does anyone else have another variation of these?

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.

Epic Willkie McNary Poster

One of the great aspects of being members of the American Political Item Collectors  is that we get to see items from other collectors around the country. A few months ago this 1940 Willkie-McNary poster was being shared with members on the facebook group.