Promotional pins and buttons are some of the most popular political schwag. Since they are relatively inexpensive to produce and can be worn daily on any item of clothing or bag, campaigns have used clever and humorous buttons to promote their candidates since the nineteenth century. Here are a couple of my favorite campaign buttons from the past:

Bary Goldwater’s smiling face is featured on this button from the 1964 presidential election. Lyndon B. Johnson, Goldwater’s opponent, used the slogan “In your guts you know he’s nuts” to poke fun at the Goldwater campaign’s slogan “In your heart, you know he’s right.” Johnson ended up winning the election . . . I’d like to think it was all because of this clever button.

In this button from the 2004 presidential election, President George W. Bush and Harry Potter appear to be running mates. I guess allying yourself with popular literary characters is good PR? Unfortunately, Potter seems to have been unable to run as Bush’s VP candidate on account of being British, a teenager and fictional.

Posted on November 11th, 2008 by PoliticalSchwagCollector
Filed under: Campaign Slogans, Funny Stuff, presidential elections, Vintage Schwag