Badge man predicts Ohio winner

Mort Berkowitz has been producing political campaign badges (or buttons, as they are known in the US) in New York City since 1976, the year when the headquarters of each party stopped producing pins and started outsourcing merchandise.

Every election, his agency "Bold Concepts" creates 700 to 800 different designs for both the Republican and the Democratic Party.

Each design can be print in a number from 100 to 1,000 copies, which are sold at conventions and throughout the campaign to parties, local organisations and collectors.

This year he has produced about a million pins. Inspired by the debate, he is now working on: "I'm not a binder, I'm a woman and I vote".

One of his favourite ever is "Hillary Rodman Clinton", a combination of basketball player Dennis Rodman and the then first lady, who even mentioned the button at the convention in 1996.

"Everybody is Palin by comparison" was a good seller during the primaries.

According to Mr Berkowitz, the internet and virtual campaigning are not taking over buttons. He sold as many pins this year as in 2008, especially to Democrats.

"Democrats love buttons, they always buy more than Republicans", he explains. The two parties differ both in taste - simple and serious versus colorful and ironical - and in content - anti-Romney buttons are much more popular among Democrats than anti-Obama among Republicans.

As buttons sales is also a measure of enthusiasm, from his tiny office on Times Square Mr Berkowitz explains to the BBC how the campaign is going and, more important, he predicts who, according to his "pins polls" will win in Ohio.

Produced by Anna Bressanin, Camera by Ilya Shnitser