Opinion: Change Obama <em>can’t</em> believe in; he’s on a ticket with Larry Craig

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Here’s how Republican Idaho is:

In 1992, Bill Clinton came within 1 percentage point of finishing third there in the general election behind President George H.W. Bush and Ross Perot.

So it was surprising to many during this past primary season when Sen. Barack Obama invested an unusual amount of time for a Democrat in the scenic potato state.

Now, an even bigger surprise: According to a new political button just unveiled, Obama is running on the same political ticket as Republican Sen. Larry Craig, who had that embarrassing to-do last summer in the men’s room of the Minneapolis Airport.

No, really!

As you can see from the photo, Obama and Craig are shown shoulder-to-shoulder on the button, which has become an instant classic collector’s item.

It is, of course, a mistake. A hilarious one. After announcing his retirement and then unannouncing it to finish his six-year term, Craig is not running for anything this fall.

Instead, Lt. Gov. Jim Risch is representing the GOP in the U.S. Senate race against Democrat Larry LaRocco, whose photo was supposed to be on the button next to Obama. Risch and LaRocco are longtime Idaho political foes, having faced each other twice for state Senate and lieutenant governor, with Risch winning both times.

The button company, Tigereye Design out of Ohio, simply picked the wrong Idaho Larry from the photo file. After selling a few buttons to some sharp-eyed collectors, the incorrect button sale was halted.

-- Andrew Malcolm