Charles Apple

I’ve spent the last week or two dabbling in a little free-lance idea I dreamed up. Luckily, I found a few newspapers that wanted some help with election graphics. Perhaps I’ll blog about it on Tuesday.

All this work, though, has whetted my appetite for Election Night. This will be the first one in 22 years, by my count, that I won’t spend it in a newsroom. I’ll be very curious to see what you guys cook up.

Here are a few stray election-themed items for your Friday enjoyment…

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THEY’RE STARING AT ME

Peering out at me from their little cardboard-and-mylar prisons are the dynamic duo themselves, senators John McCain and Barack Obama. I think Obama looks just like him, but McCain’s features are a little too chiseled and his jaw a little too prominent.

I bought these for $12.95 each at a bookstore a couple of months ago. I’ve seen them around — mostly at bookstores and gift shops. And yes, they do have them at Amazon (Obama and McCain).

If you want a set, better get ‘em now. Next week, they’ll either be impossible to find or they’ll be on deep discount.

I also have a set of 12-inch-tall (G.I. Joe-sized) president figures: Kennedy, Nixon, Carter, both Bushes and more. Alas, they’ll be spending election night still boxed up and in storage. I’ll bring the li’l fellers home soon.

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CAMPAIGN BUTTONS

Do campaigns still give out buttons? I never see these anymore. Therefore, I’m usually forced to feed my button collection by shopping online or in memorabilia stores.

I got started with buttons in 1996, when I interviewed for a job at the Chicago Tribune the week before the Democratic Convention was held in Chicago. Folks all over were selling Democratic buttons.

Possibly the most interesting items in my collection are the two you see below. On the left is an authentic button from when Republicans wanted to draft Gen. Douglas MacArthur to run against the man who would later fire him — Harry Truman — in 1948. They had a small supply of these for sale a while back at the MacArthur museum gift shop in downtown Norfolk. I was lucky enough to snag one.

To the right of that is a John F. Kennedy button from 1960. Below it is a Ted Kennedy button from 1980.

Here are two rather naughty ones from a decade ago:

You have to hand it to the Republicans. They may be way behind in the polls this year, but they sure have a knack for making funny campaign buttons:

If you’d like to add to your own collection, it’s easy enough to order online. I normally buy my blue stuff from the DemStore and my red stuff from the Republican Market.

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WORLD’S BEST ELECTORAL MAP

If you’ve been staring at as many electoral maps as I have, then you might appreciate this, from last Saturday’s New York Times:

Find a larger version here.

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DEBATES RECAPPED IN TWO-AND-A-HALF MINUTES

I think this sums up the three debates pretty well, don’t you?

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SAY IT AIN’T SO, OPIE…

I hesitate to post this because… well, it’s partisan. But it’s still a scream. Especially if you’re my age. Which most of you aren’t.

It’s basically a volunteer video on behalf of Obama, made by a few of those “Hollywood elite” types. No matter which way your red-blue meter swings, though, perhaps you’ll enjoy it:

Have a Happy Halloween, everybody!

This entry was posted on Friday, October 31st, 2008 at 1:07 am and is filed under Amusing stuff, Charles Apple, Getting a life, Graphics, Innovative ideas, VizEds Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.