Who's got the buttons? Campaign tokens are utilized less these days

If you have the feeling this year's presidential political campaigns are missing something, you're right.

While there hasn't been a shortage of campaign bumper stickers this year boasting support for Mitt, Mac, Barack or Hillary, campaign buttons for the respective candidates have been much harder to find, despite their long history and tradition.

The button is not only a durable and versatile means of showing support for a candidate, it has also proven to be a popular collector's item. But budget restraints brought on by campaign finance reforms are making the buttons — once mass produced in the millions — go the way of the whistlestop speech from a train caboose.

"If you can only spend 'X' number of dollars, instead of buying buttons you want to buy as many television ads as possible," said Ron Wade, a long-time Texas campaign memorabilia collector and dealer.

Nyal Anderson, owner of the Beehive Collectors Gallery at 368 E. 300 South, said buttons are always on the brain during campaign season and are always good sellers. He has a list of 20 to 30 people he calls — mostly history buffs interested in politics — looking for specific items to add to their collections whenever new items come in.

"People like to own a bit of history that they can hold in their hand," he said. "During an election year, they pay more attention to what they want to get."

Most buttons produced for this year's campaigns are made for profit, instead of promotion — and that's good news for collectors, Wade said.

Former President Richard Nixon paid for tens of millions of buttons to be made. Consequently, they're still quite common and aren't worth more than a couple dollars. But when party activists have to pay out of pocket to create a "California for Obama" button, only a few thousand are created, thereby increasing the likelihood that they'll be collectible, he said.

Wade runs the Web site www.ronwadebuttons.com, where he not only buys and sells collectible buttons but also designs and makes them himself. At his site and others like buttonsonline.com and campaignbuttons-etc.com, shoppers can look through dozens of designs and buy a single button for $3 or $4 or order 1,000 or more for about 20 to 30 cents each.

"Supporters of campaigns will not be denied," Wade laughed.

This year Barack Obama is the top seller by far, and Wade said he can't seem to make enough of them.

Local campaigns are able to diversify their spending more and are more likely to use buttons.