Byrd E. Warlick, Jim's father and his partner in the campaign button business, said it was clear that Bush would be no shoe-in.
Warlick, a World War II veteran from Ashville, N.C., was hawking campaign buttons a block away from the city's ward three polling site on Tuesday.
"Buchanan is outselling Bush nine to one," he said. "And Tsongas has been selling well all day."
"Our number one sellers are the anti-Bush items," he said, pointing to "Bushit" buttons and buttons that feature an emaciated face screaming in terror at the thought of Quayle's second team.
The senior Warlick said most of the campaign items sold at a rate of about 100 a day, but items endorsing Bush unloaded at only a rate of 25 per day.
"The Bush stuff--you can't give it away," he said.