I would love to grow a collection like this of actual historical Presidential Pins or Buttons!
I’m a political junky, if you haven’t already figured that out. I generally follow what is going on in Politics on both the Left and the Right intently. I’m a hardcore Republican and Christian Conservative (or Evangelical as I’d be called) so obviously I am more intent on keeping up-to-date with Republicans and following the current Republican race than I am the other side, but even so I try to keep a wide eyed view. So I will gladly hunt down President Obama’s speeches, and I love watching all the speech’s and foreign meetings with dignarities that President Obama holds or Secretary of State Clinton gives.
Just like I did with President Bush and Secretary Rice. I still find these events to be fascinating, and I love to watch how President Obama interacts with foreign dignitaries.
So what’s the quest? Since the Republican Presidential Candidates Race for 2012 is over and Mitt Romney will be our nominee, I decided that I want to do something fun to remember the race. I want to track down Pins/Buttons, Tshirts, Bumper Stickers, Mugs and other memorabilia from all of the Republican Presidential Candidates! Especially while the race is still relatively fresh and these things shouldn’t be too hard to track down. I’ll definitely start with Newt Gringrich, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul, President Obama/Biden and Mitt Romney in that order.
Unfortunately I’m not working right now so it’ll have to wait, but hopefully I’ll still be able to purchase these items (or some of them) from the official websites or PACs of the candidates. In particular I was a huge fan of Herman Cain and he was my original Top Candidate for the Republican Nomination of 2012, so I really hope I can still get ahold of his memorabilia. Also Michelle Bachmann and Rick Perry, whom I supported to a much lesser extent. And of course, I don’t wanna forget Gary Johnson! And Tim Pawlenty! And last BUT NOT LEAST, Jon Huntsmann. I was a big Huntsmann fan despite my Conservatism, I thought he would’ve made an outstanding President. I hope he’ll also be tapped for Mitt Romney’s cabinet.
I’ve actually thought it would be really fun to collect the buttons, pins, bumper stickers from Presidents of the past… and then not just the President’s themselves, but also the Presidential Candidates that ran during the elections against them. It’d be a great history lesson, since my interest in politics didn’t start until the Bush Administration. :P During the Clinton years I was too young in gradeschool and Junior High to give a damn (although I still remember this female History teacher of mine saying, “How dare a President wag his finger at the American people!” Course, I hardly knew/cared what she was talking about lol)… so I have LOTS of history to catch up on!
These are awesome pins! They may have been given out for the 3rd 2008 debate between John McCain & Barack Obama
Here’s a video showing some random Presidential pins. :)
The mock Cheez-It debate of 2012! Which Election Candidate is Your Favorite? Mine is White Cheddar!
A new obsession of mine has been the Cheez-It Facebook App! This game and app is holding a mock 2012 election between eight different candidates! While it is taking advantage of the high political season and the current Republican GOP race, it is also giving fans a look into a real political race between these fictional Cheez-It characters, all of whom represent real flavors.
If you enjoy this article or Facebook game, please like it at the top of the website and share it on Facebook and Twitter, I’d greatly appreciate it! And leave a comment if you’re so inclined. :)
The 8 candidates are:
Colby – Who is the “everyman” – Slogan: “The People’s Cheese”
Italian Four-Cheese – The Mob-boss type. Slogan: “Italian Four Cheese It Is”
Cheddar Jack – The Cowboy – Slogan: “It’s Snack Time In America Again”
Mozzarella – The only female of the group – Slogan: “The Cheese For Change”
Pepper Jack – The Experienced Old Man, flat-top and monocle-wearing – Slogan: “Are You Better Off Than You Were A Box Ago?”
Baby Swiss – The, err, baby of the group. Literally. – Slogan: “For Young, For Old, For Real”
Hot & Spicy – The only Hispanic of the group – Slogan: “For A Hotter, Spicier Tomorrow”
and
White Cheddar – The “Prime and Proper” One – Slogan: “Let Cheese Be Cheese Again”
Visitors to the Cheez-It Facebook page and the website and App can vote for their favorite candidate, and the Candidate with the most votes by April will win. Once inside the App, you can even go to the “Leaderboard” to see which cheese flavor is winning in your state! I’m in-tune with “my people”, because White Cheddar is my favorite flavor, is the flavor that is in the lead nationally with over 2 million votes, and is the favorite flavor of my homestate of Arizona! Huzzah!
The asthetic of the App is pretty cool. Everything is in mock-election style, so you can start a “Grassroots Movement” by inviting your Facebook friends to the join the App and vote for a candidate, you can unlock campaign badges (or, essentially, Achievements) by reaching certain criteria, you can watch a mock “debate” video between the candidates (which is pretty lame, I was disappointed :P), you can view each candidates Bio along with their Campaign Video giving their point of view, and you can view the “attack ads” on their opponents in the “Campaign Ads” section. You can also print out coupons to save money on Cheez-It crackers and can even “Flip-Flop” to a different candidate.
The meat and potatoes of the App though comes from the Game Room and how you earn points, or “votes”, for your candidate. Interacting with the site earns you “votes” for the candidate you have voted for (and thus sided with), and these votes will eventually help you to become the Grand Prize winner of the contest, whose Grand Prize offers 4 straight years of free Cheez-Its and yourself turned into a Cheez-It character! There are also 7 runners-up. You can win votes by viewing the Bios and each section of the site each day, and for watching the debate each day. But the most votes can be won by playing the three minigames on offer in the “Game Room”.
The main and most exciting aspect of the Cheez-It Facebook App is definitely the games. The games are all pretty simple, but also addictive and will earn you tons of votes. An added bonus is that each game features it’s own Leaderboard with the top-ten players, so do well enough and you can get your name on the leaderboard (and, I imagine, a better chance at winning the Grand Prize).
The funnest game by far in my humble opinion is called “Scandal Squisher”. It is a whack-a-mole style game where you must click the right icons as they pop out of pipes, while avoiding the Cheese. If you click the cheese or miss clicking an icon, you get a miss. Get several misses and you will lose your balloons, lose them all and you are out. Each proper click earns you points, and occasionally balloons will pop up that allow you to earn those lives back and keep yourself from Game Over. There are 7 rounds and the game gets faster and faster which each. My current top-score is 35,135. The lowest highscore on the Leaderboard is 35,290 points! I’M ALMOST THERE! I’m determined to get on that leaderboard!
Update: I MADE IT TO THE LEADERBOARD! 7TH PLACE! Whoohoo!
Play one of three games in the Cheez-It Election Facebook App
Then you have an interesting game called “Campaign FundRacer”. Here, you are required to use your mouse to circle the proper line-up of Cheez-It Candidates as they randomly fall from the sky. Doing so successfully or in the right combo or in one try will earn you Coins, which will shoot from the sides of the screen. Hover over them to collect the Coins and add them to your Campaign Bus at the bottom of the screen. Each round is timed with the goal of collecting enough Coins to get the bus to the end of the screen. As you complete rounds, more varying and difficult patterns to encircle will appear and more and more groups of random Candidates will fall from the sky. They will also be closer bunched together, making it harder to circle the proper allocation. This is the most interesting game.
The last game is called “Ballot Bowling” and this is basically those amusement park skeeball games or whatever they are called where you roll the ball up the lane and into the holes. You gain points not only depending on the hole, but certain holes will light up and you’ll occassionally have Blue or Red balls, each of which give you different net benefits.
As mentioned above, there are several awesome Achievements to earn, such as staying on the site for one whole hour, or earning 10,000 Points in a single day! Here is the list of Achievements and how to get them, I’m currently three away from having them all.
Earn badges in the Facebook Cheez-It App. Here I unlocked Vote-A-Saurus Rex Achievement for earning 10,000 Points in one day.
I Voted Badge – Given to users who visit the app and cast their first vote. Fence Sitter Badge – For interacting with all pages and not voting for any candidate or flip flop 8 times also can unlock later in the process. Friends of Cheese Badge – For Accruing 25,000 number of votes for a specific cheese. Flip Flopper Badge – Awarded for the switching votes from one cheese to another. Poll Pro Badge – Given for any user who spend more than an hour in the app. Campaign Manager Badge – Given to users who “campaign” for their cheese through posters, sharing, etc. Maverick Badge – Given for inviting friends to join your candidate’s campaign. Ballot Buster L1 Badge – Accrue 1,000 votes through onsite activities. Ballot Buster L2 Badge – Accrue 5,000 votes through onsite activities. Ballot Buster L3 Badge – Accrue 10,000 votes through onsite activities. Vote-a-Saurus Rex Badge – Accrue 10,000 votes on a single day. Weekend Warrior Badge – Awarded to any user who votes on a weekend. Fund Racer Badge – Awarded for scoring points playing onsite game. Scandal Squasher Badge – Awarded for scoring points playing onsite game. Ballot Bowler Badge – Awarded for scoring points playing onsite game.
Interact with the Cheez-It Facebook Election App and unlock Achievements. View them in your Badge Wall!
Watch Us Play Games 