Blue text on a grey background.

This is a campaign button for Gary Hart's run for U.S. President in 1984. With his slogan of "new ideas," Hart challenged former Vice President Walter Mondale for the Democratic nomination. Mondale countered that in part by using the Wendy's slogan "Where's the Beef?" to question Hart's ideas. Hart won primaries in New Hampshire, Ohio, and a few other states, but Mondale was elected the Democratic nominee at the convention in San Francisco in July.

Hart ran for president again in 1988, but his campaign was derailed after he was pictured with Donna Rice on the boat "Monkey Business." He suspended his run in September 1987. He rejoined the race in December 1987 but withdrew again after a poor showing on Super Tuesday in March 1988. Hart was U.S. Senator from Colorado from 1978-1987. He was appointed U.S. special envoy for Northern Ireland in 2014.

Green text on a white background

The Connecticut Green Party is the Connecticut affiliate of the Green Party of the United States. The Green Party platform promotes, among other issues, social justice, grassroots democracy, nonviolence, and environmental concerns. Ralph Nader, a Connecticut native, ran as the Green Party candidate in the 2000 presidential election, going up against Republican (and eventual winner) George W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore. Nader, who won 97,421 votes, was considered by some to be a “spoiler” in the election—Bush beat Gore by 537 votes, and exit polls indicate that 38% of Nader voters would have voted for Gore. This button is most likely indicating the general sense of displeasure with the national government felt by Connecticut Green Party members in the years following the 2000 election.  

Green and white text on a green and white background

Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale were the Democratic nominees for President and Vice President in the 1976 United States Presidential election. Carter had previously served as the governor of Georgia from 1971-1975. Walter Mondale had served as a United States Senator, representing Minnesota from 1964-1976. Carter and Mondale defeated the Republican candidates, incumbent President Gerald Ford and his selection for Vice President, Bob Dole. Jimmy Carter was the first President elected who represented the Deep South since the 1848 Presidential election of Zachary Taylor.

Purple text on a white background with blue outer edge with white text

This button is most likely referring to Jerry Brown, a politician and lawyer from California. Brown, a liberal Democrat, has unsuccessfully run for President of the United States three times: in 1976, 1980, and 1992. In 1976, he lost to Jimmy Carter in the democratic primary, and in 1980 he unsuccessfully challenged Carter’s renomination. His 1992 campaign, with Rev. Jesse Jackson as a running mate, was arguably his most successful, however he lost the bid to Bill Clinton. There was some speculation that Brown would run for President a fourth time in 2016, however he stated publicly in 2014 that he had ruled out another presidential campaign. We The People—a reference to the preamble of the United States Constitution—is the name of a non-profit corporation formerly led by Brown, and was also the name of a political call-in radio show he hosted in the later 1990s on KPFA, a progressive Berkeley, California-based radio station.

Red around the outside edge with white text in it and an illustartion of an animal with antlers on a white background and a spinning arrow attached on top.

This button was designed as a game to determine who bought the next round of Jagermeister.  Jagermeister was created by Curt Mast in Wolfenbuttel, Germany, in 1935. The recipe was created with 56 herbs, blossoms, roots and fruits. The name Jagermeister (translated "hunt master") and the stag emblem was said to be in honor of the traditions of the region where the drink was created due to its frequent use as a post-hunt drink. 

See more innovative and unique buttons in action on the Busy Beaver blog.

Illustration of a small brown dog with short legs and a long body on an orange and yellow background with black text along the bottom edge.

The Dachsund dog, in its modern form, was created in Germany by breaders. It is part of the hound family. These dogs were originally bred for hunting, in particular for trailing scent, chase and flushing out burrow dwelling animals.

This button is part of a larger set of 35 buttons, each with an illustration of a different dog breed. The were originally sold on a 6” x 9” cardboard sheet.

White text on a blue background with red stars across the top

United States Representative Allyson Schwartz, of Pennsylvania, ran for a seat in the United States Senate in 2000. She lost in the Democratic primary to Ron Klink, who won 41 percent of the vote.

Schwartz began her career in politics as as a Pennsylvania State Senator. In 1992, she created the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) which received national recognition and was used as a national model. After losing the Senate primary in 2000, Schwartz successfully ran for the United States House of Representatives for Pennsylvania's 13th congressional district. She served in the House from 2005 to 2015 and, once elected, she created legislation that gave a tax credit to businesses that hired veterans. In 2014, she unsuccessfully ran for Governor of Pennsylvania. 

Two ovals with color photographs of two men and white text with red text at the top and bottom of the button on and iage of the Capital building

This button is from the "Prosperity and Progress" tour for the 2000 presidential campaign of Al Gore and running mate Joe Lieberman. Gore and Lieberman, who were the Democratic Party's candidates, were running against Republican George Bush and Dick Cheney. The two week tour passed through states with no clear allegiance to either party in the East Coast and Midwest in an attempt to surpass Bush in the polls by discussing contentious issues like Medicare, social security, and debt.

The election is now remembered as one of the most controversial in American history. The Florida elections required multiple recounts, bringing about a series of lawsuits ending in a decision by the Supreme Court that Bush had won the state. Though Gore won the majority of the popular vote, Bush became President by winning the majority of the electoral vote, only the fourth time that it had happened in presidential history.

Seelye, Katharine Q. (2000, June 9). The 2000 Campaign: The Vice President; Gore Plans Tour on Prosperity Issues. The New York Times. Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2000/06/09/us/the-2000-campaign-the-vice-president-gore-plans-tour-on-prosperity-issues.html

Two blue ovals with photographs of men and white text on top of an illustration of an American flag 

Robert Dole, better known as Bob Dole, ran for the against incumbent Bill Clinton in the 1996 United States Presidential election. Dole, the oldest first-time nominee for US president at 73 years old, was a Republican Senator from Kansas. In the early days of the election, before running mates had been announced, there were rumors that Jim Edgar, the Governor of Illinois at the time, might become Dole's running mate. Dole and Edgar were considered a good match because of their complementary stances on political issues, and newspapers emphasized that if Dole were to fall ill or die while in office, Edgar would be healthy enough to step in. This button was made preemptively, since the Republican party nominated Jack Kemp as the vice-presidential candidate and Edgar never officially campaigned alongside Dole.

Hardy, Thomas and Rick Pearson. (1996, July 23). Edgar Definitely On List As Dole's Running Mate. The New York Times. Retrieved from: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1996-07-23/news/9607230125_1_dole-campaign-bob-dole-jim-edgar

White text on a blue background with an illustration of a flag at top and a red outer edge

John Kerry and John Edwards were the Democratic nominees for President and Vice President, respectively, in the 2004 United States Presidential election. They ran against Republican incumbent President George W. Bush and his Vice President, Dick Cheney. Both Kerry and Edwards were serving in the United States Senate at the time of the election, John Kerry for Massachusetts and John Edwards for North Carolina. Kerry and Edwards had previously competed against each other in the Democratic Presidential Primaries in 2004.