It is rare for an art exhibit to marry campaign history, memorabilia, propaganda, art and fashion into one cohesive show, but the Saint Louis University Museum of Art’s newest exhibit, “Persuasive Politics: Presidential Campaign Memorabilia”, manages to do just that. More than 200 pieces catalog the visual progression of presidential campaign artifacts with items as varied as a pack of “I like Ike” cigarettes from Dwight Eisenhower’s presidential campaign and one of Florida’s infamous voting booths from the 2000 election, hanging chads in tow.

Rows of campaign banners hanging from red-and-white striped walls line the periphery of each gallery room. The faint sound of campaign commercials rumbles in the background of this multimedia event. Throughout the gallery space, there is an interesting mixture of the practical and the puzzling.

It is difficult to imagine one emptying a cigarette butt into a Franklin Delano Roosevelt ashtray or correcting a mistake with Nixon/Agnew pencil erasers. To whom were these items marketed? Did they really tip the scale in favor of the candidate being promoted?

The visual nature of the presidential campaign has clearly changed in the past 200 years. The campaign button has replaced the commemorative presidential coin. What remains constant, however, is the intent of these highly commercialized items-universal voter recognition.

Presumably, when it came to election day, the voter would remember that Jimmy Carter as Christ-figure button with the moniker, “JC can save America,” and choose him to be the next president.

Indeed, one need only compare the history of campaign slogans to recognize that little has changed in the nature of a person’s journey to the White House. The Grand National Union Banner for the 1852 campaign bears the insignia “No north, no south, no east, no west. Nothing but the Union.” This sentiment is reminiscent of Barack Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention, where he professed that the men and women in service “have not served a red America or a blue America; they have served the United States of America.”

The themes of unity, freedom, liberty and equality have remained remarkably consistent over the years as images of the bald eagle, Lady Liberty and American flag are still as prominent as they were in past elections.

Voters no longer see posters like that of Martin Van Buren gallantly riding a horse, tipping his hat to the viewer and declaring himself the “Champion of Democracy.” Instead, we are presented with slogans like, “John McCain: the Original Maverick.” The parallels between past and present are palpable.

There is a room in the exhibit dedicated to the present election. It is outfitted with life-size cut outs of McCain and Obama, bobble heads bearing each candidate’s likeness and the infamous July 21 cover of the New Yorker, featuring Obama and his wife as fist-pumping Muslim extremists.

From the images and trinkets in this exhibit, one sees at once the development of American politics and the utter sameness of it all.

This is a thought-provoking show that appeals to a wide audience. The elements of pop culture are both charming and baffling. The posters dating from the late 1700s provide solid historical footing for this ambitious collection.

The exhibit is topical, a retrospective into American history and worthy of an afternoon’s excursion.

“Persuasive Politics: Presidential Campaign Memorabilia” runs from Sept. 5 through Dec. 21 at SLUMA.