Editor's note: To get you in the mood for ballot-casting, The Latest Word is kicking off each weekday between now and the November 4 election with Buttoned Up, a look at political buttons from my family's extensive collection...

At first glance, this button featuring George Herbert Walker Bush and Bob Dole doesn't seem that unusual -- except for the fact that the two didn't actually wind up running for the presidency together. Both Bush and Dole, Gerald Ford's veep choice in the 1976 competition he lost to Jimmy Carter, targeted the Oval Office in 1988 -- but when Bush emerged victorious, he passed over the Kansan in favor of Dan Quayle, who, if memory serves, was no Jack Kennedy. Click "More" to see a button commemorating the actual Republican ticket in '88. -- Michael Roberts

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