Collecting Ronald Reagan Campaign Buttons
December 21, 2013 - As Ronald Reagan continues to be one of the most popular Presidents, so do his campaign 
buttons continue to be sought out by collectors.
Putting together a collection of Ronald Reagan campaign buttons offers collectors many opportunities. Campaign buttons were produced for Reagan’s two successful runs for Governor of California in 1966 and 1970. For his presidential campaigns there are also a large selection of campaign buttons from 1968, 1976, 1980 and 1984.
Ronald Reagan first came to the attention of the American public at large as movie actor. Reagan would make Hollywood films from the late 1930s until 1964 when he would appear in his final film The Killers.
Reagan established his conservative credentials when he gave a televised speech in support of 1964 Republican nominee for President Barry 
Goldwater. That speech on October 27, 1964 for Goldwater titled “A Time For Choosing” would later be marked by historians as the moment Reagan’s 
political career was launched.
In 1966 Reagan running as a Republican would be elected the Governor of California. Campaign buttons would be produced for this first Reagan campaign for elective office.
In 1968 Reagan would set his sights on the White House. This first run for President would see the wide production of Reagan picture presidential campaign buttons that would take advantage of his movie star good lucks.
Reagan had entered the 1968 Republican presidential primary season late after the campaign of Nelson Rockefeller had faltered against that of Richard Nixon. While Nixon would ultimately win enough delegates to secure the nomination, Reagan surprisingly would win the majority of actual votes cast in the primaries.
Reagan would be re-elected Governor of California in 1970. From there Reagan would set his eyes on the White House again. This would be a decade long quest which Reagan would finally accomplish when he was elected President in November of 1980.
In 1976 Reagan would mount another presidential campaign. This time he would have to challenge incumbent President
Gerald Ford. Reagan would come very close to winning the nomination. Ford though would ultimately win a close delegate race with him winning 1,187 delegates to Reagan's 1,070.
The 1976 race would see a large number of Reagan campaign buttons. Reagan took the unusual move for that era of presidential politics of selecting his vice presidential running mate Senator Richard Schweicker of Pennsylvania well in advance of the nominating convention. There are several different styles of Reagan Schweicker word campaign buttons and Reagan Schweicker picture campaign buttons that were made for that potential ticket.
The 1976 Republican National Convention was held in Kansas City and due to the close race between Ford and Reagan was dubbed “the shootout 
in Kansas City.” A number of campaign buttons were produced that played off the shootout theme. Campaign buttons were available that featured cartoon caricatures of Ford and Reagan as cowboys. Depending on who a person wanted to support the buttons were made with either Reagan in a black hat or white hat and the same for Ford.
With Ford having lost the November general election in 1976 to Jimmy Carter, Reagan’s path to the 1980 seemed within his grasp. While he would have a number of fellow Republicans also running for the nomination including future President George H.W. Bush and Senator Bob Dole, Reagan would win the nomination and go on to defeat President Jimmy Carter in November of 1980.
The 1980 election saw a large variety of Ronald Reagan presidential campaign buttons now that he had finally secured the Republican nomination. Campaign buttons
featuring the Reagan Bush ticket and also many showing regional support from States around the 
country could be found. Some Ronald Reagan presidential campaign buttons from 1980 featured the now iconic photo of him wearing a cowboy hat. Many Reagan Bush campaign buttons from 1980 would feature a patriotic red, white and blue theme which has always been standard for presidential campaign buttons.
1984 would be the final political campaign for Ronald Reagan. With his win in November of 1984, Reagan would conclude his electoral career without ever having lost a general election.
While the campaigns of Ronald Reagan are now in the history books, the political memorabilia from those years endure. In addition to Ronald Reagan for President campaign buttons, there are wide varieties of Reagan political memorabilia for collectors to seek. There are Ronald Reagan posters, ribbons, inaugural items, plates and more items available.
As the admiration and appreciation of the legacy of Ronald Reagan continues to grow, so to can the popularity of Ronald Reagan campaign buttons and memorabilia be expected to increase.
Chris Christie Campaign Buttons Most Popular Of The Year
December 21, 2013 - If the sale of campaign buttons determined who would be the next President of the United States, then New Jersey Governor Chris Christie can start writing his inaugural address.
According to Chris Daniels of campaignbuttons-etc, Chris Christie for President 2016 campaign buttons were the runaway seller for the year. Boosted by a 20 point win in his 2013 re-election campaign for Governor and increased media attention, Christie for President campaign buttons have been strong sellers.
While Christie's fellow Republicans like Senator Paul Rand of Kentucky and Senator Marco Rubio of Florida receive plenty of press attention, the sale of their campaign buttons have lagged far behind that of Christie. The lead in the sale of Christie campaign buttons
matches that of Christie performance in popular opinion polls where he has been first in most polls throughout the year. Surprisingly as this point Christie is selling more campaign buttons than his potential rival for the White House, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Hillary Clinton has dominated public opinions polls throughout the year over any potential challenger for the 2016 Democratic nomination for President. Clinton's dominance in polls is matched in the sale of Hillary Clinton for President 2016 campaign buttons as she easily out sells any potential challengers.
While Clinton polls in the 60s in terms of support, her other Democratic contenders register only in the single digits. Those low poll numbers also match the sale of their respective campaign buttons. While 2016 presidential campaign are available for Governor Andrew 
Cuomo of New York, Vice President Joe Biden and Governor Martin O'Malley of Maryland their sales are just as low as their poll numbers.
2014 will be a crucial year for the front runners for their respective party nomination Chris Christie and Hillary Clinton. If Christie and Clinton
continue to lead in the polls we can expect that to be reflected in their continued dominance in the sale of their presidential campaign buttons.
Christie Leads In New Poll of 2016 Republicans
December 19, 2013 - New Jersey Governor Chris Christie leads his fellow Republicans in the latest presidential poll. Christie has the support of 18% of those polled followed by Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky with 15%, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas with 14% and Senator Marco Rubio of Florida with 11%.
The poll also showed that Hillary Clinton continues to have overwhelming support among Democrats with 63% saying they would support her running for President. All of Clinton's potential challengers including Vice President Joe Biden and New York Governor Mario Cuomo poll only in the single digits.
Christie Leads Clinton In Poll Of Iowa Voters
December 17, 2013 - A just released poll of Iowa voters shows New Jersey Governor Chris Christie leading former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton 45% to 40%. When the same poll was taking in August Christie and Clinton were tied at 41% each. The poll also revealed that Christie leads Clinton among independent voters by 44% to 35%.
Against Republicans other than Christie, Clinton would defeat any likely opponents including Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and former Governor of Florida Jeb Bush.
Before Governor Christie starts producing Christie for President campaign buttons for the 2016 November election , he first needs to get through the Iowa Republican Presidential Caucus. A poll of the favor ability ratings of potential Republican Presidential candidates shows Christie trailing.
With 73%, Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan is the most popular among Iowans followed by former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee at 66%, fromer Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum with 58%, Texas Governor Rick Perry with 55% and Christie with 51%. More troubling for Christie is that he has the highest unpopular rating among likely candidates with 30% disapproving.
With two years to go before the Iowa Caucuses, Hillary Clinton is showing strong support with 89% of those polled saying they have a positive opinion of her. A possible Democratic opponent for Hillary Clinton, Vice President Joe Biden enjoyed a showing of 71% positive in the same poll.
GOP Looks to Shorten Presidential Primary Season for 2016
December 14, 2013 - Republican National Committee members have been meeting since summer with Chairman Reince Priebus to come up with a new method of nominating a presidential candidate following the 2012 primaries which is felt dragged on to long. Highlights of the proposed plan include compressing the nominating calendar, punishing primary and caucus states that jump the set voting order and possibly move the party's national convention to late June.
The last time that the Republicans held a convention in June, was when the RNC held their quadrennial gathering in June of 1948 in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania and nominated New York Governor Thomas Dewey for President.
Republicans Party members have long complained that the 20 primary presidential debates held in 2012 was way to many. The plan now is to greatly reduce the number of deabtes. Any candidate that would violate the set upon number of would be stripped of one third of their delegates to the national convention.
The first four states in the nominating process would continue to be in the order of voting Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada. Those contests would be held in
the month of February. Any state that tries to hold their contest before March 1st would see their total number of delegates slashed to just 9 people. For smaller states they would see their delegate total slashed to one third or which ever is smaller.
Delegates will be awarded proportionally for those states voting during the first two weeks of March. After March 15 states could continue to award the delegates proportional or make them winner take all contests. A late June date for the convention would mean that the primary season would end in May because RNC rules requires all delegate lists to be submitted 35 days before the convention.
The primary reason for moving the convention to late June, is so that the eventual nominee will have a full two extra months in order to have access to general election campaign funds. In 2012 Mitt Romney was not able draw upon his general election funds until after the RNC 
convention which was the last week in August. This is considered to one of the reasons for Romney's loss as he was outspent heavily during the summer by President Obama and the Democrats.