Back in August, reading my daily edition of the Boston Globe, I saw an article by David Paul Kuhn under the headline, "Obama's problem with white male voters".  I cannot say I read it completely or even particularly closely, but my impression of what David Paul was saying is that Obama really had a problem with old white men, who tended to favor John McCain over Obama.  I immediately got an idea and decided to have a button custom made that read "Old White Men for Obama", thinking it might help make it okay for old white men to get behind Obama.  In other words, I'd start a movement.

I went to Obama's web site, selected some art work, found AffordableButtons.com on the web, and placed an order for ten buttons.  They arrived about a week later.  I gave out one or two to friends willing to wear them and offered them to anyone who would take, and wear, one.  I did not have a lot of takers, mostly because men, of any age say past 40, are too vain to wear them.  The most common remark I would get after offering someone a button was, "I'm not old."  That was not the point, and I always wanted to say, "No, but you are not 21 anymore either."  Most of the time, though, I did not say anything.

I've had some strange reactions to the button.  While I was in a drugstore, one young black man, about to wait on me, pointed at it, and asked "What's that?" with a look of concern, if not fear, in his eyes.  I said, "That's a button.  I'm an old white man, and it means I support Barack Obama for president."  "What about Sarah Palin?" he asked (this was shortly after John McCain had picked her as his running mate), "Everybody likes her."  "I like lots of people," I said, "but that doesn't mean I think they are qualified to be the vice president of the United States."  He relaxed, and I was happy to see it.  He seemed to think John McCain had just trumped Barack Obama, and Obama was going to lose the election.

I keep the button on my bag, which I carry back and forth from work every day, as I take public transportation to my job in Boston.  First the train to Harvard Square, then the bus to Symphony Hall, then another train to work.  One day, going up the escalator out of the Harvard Square T stop, a woman behind me said, "Where did you get that button?  I love it.  I want to get one for my husband to wear."  I explained to her that I had had it custom made and reached into my bag for an extra one, handing it to her.  "Can I pay you for it?"  "No," I said, "Make a donation to Obama's campaign.  This is mine."  She walked off happily.

Creating and wearing the button has, of course, made me more aware of the buttons other people wear.  And it was not until yesterday, I swear, that I saw anyone wearing a button with any political message.  I saw a woman on the train, a couple of seats down from me, with an Obama button on her lapel.  A first.  The sheer lack of buttons, not to mention signs in yards or windows (a few here and there) and/or bumper stickers (again, a few here and there, mostly for Obama, although I did see one sign recently in a window for McCain/Palin), makes me think there is a stealth campaign for president of the United States going on in the country. 

Looking around a crowded train or bus, you'd never know one of the most important elections in this history of this country is about to take place.  No one seems to want to show their cards, as if there is some danger in doing so.  Perhaps it is just another sign of how cowed we, as a nation, have become since 9/11, when we forgot we were a free, fearless people who ought to be able to trust our own government to do the right thing.  Watching it do the wrong thing for eight long tortured years has certainly taken its toll.  We'll be a long time undoing all the damage that has been done to the world and our own peace of mind, if the lack of buttons is any measure of what is happening on the streets.