TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — In this era of high-tech and non-stop social networking, the campaign button has lost its luster.
Politicians and their operations instead push their messages with a relentless barrage of television ads, emails and mobile phone alerts, while many voters express their opinions via tweets, Facebook posts and blogs.
Buttons extolling the Republican ticket and tearing into Democrats haven't disappeared entirely, but they are far from ubiquitous. It's been rare at this week's Republican National Convention in Tampa to see campaign buttons being displayed or sold.
Campaign buttons have been part of American politics since the days of President George Washington. Some of the first buttons were sewn on clothes, or worn similar to a necklace. Those eventually gave way to metal buttons with fastening pins.
