Romney Campaign Buttons Outsourced to China

[UPDATE AT END OF POST]

For the last 40 years or so, I have collected political campaign buttons, especially Presidential Campaign buttons.  I finally decided to shed some of my collection this year, and have been selling some of my prized buttons on eBay.  From FDR through the 2000s, I have hundreds of them (including one from 1876, which I intend on keeping).

In spite of the many differences among them, there is a common theme to all of them, throughout the years:  they were made in  the United States.  Whether the candidate was a liberal Democrat or a conservative Republican, there has been a historic tradition that you not only have your buttons made in the America - - you have them made at union shops.  The all-pervasive “union bug,” the symbol of the manufacturing unions, has been printed  on the edges of US political buttons of all parties for – well, - generations.  The "Union Bug" was first used by the "Carpenter's Eight-Hour League," a union that adopted a stamp in 1869 for use on products produced by factories employing men on the eight- (as opposed to ten-) hour day. 

I have included some samples from my own collection at the bottom of this post.  The “bug” not only sends the message that the candidate supports blue-collar workers and American-made products, it is often used among collectors to validate a button as ‘legitimate’ and not a recent, cheap reproduction.  Common unionized manufacturers – still in existence after more than 80 years - include Bastian Brothers of Rochester, NY and N. G. Slater of New York City.

This year’s Republican platform slams China.  It criticizes their currency policies (a fair criticism), and goes on to warn of GOP plans to use tariffs and international organizational pressure against Chinese imports.  It criticizes the Chinese military presence off of her own shores, and supports weapon sales to Taiwan.

So one would not think that a campaign that is criticizing China; that is threatening tariffs on imports from China; whose standard bearer, Mitt Romney, is trumpeting his ability to create jobs while ducking charges of outsourcing American jobs …would have had its campaign buttons made … 

Guess where?  

In China.

Just got to shake my head.

[UPDATE:  The Romney Campaign was contacted by this Blog on the day we ran this story, through the official campaign Press inquiry channel they requested we use, and was asked to provide the name and address of the company used to make these buttons.  The campaign has chosen, so far, not to respond.]

Pictures of Political buttons with American Union Bugs :  Gerald Ford (Republican, 1976), Wendell Willkie (Republican, 1940), Jimmy Carter (Democrat, 1976) and John B. Anderson (Independent, 1980).