Ok, so careful analysis of the intricate wisdom and rhetoric I have posted here in the last three years of live journaling or anything that I might have written or posted to usenet or graffiti boards or whatnot before, or maybe just having a simple conversation with me will probably make it quite clear that my own personal politics can be a little non-conventional. To put it quite plainly, its probably fair to say that I am fucking nuts.
That said, the issue I want to take here is rather non-partisan. It’s not conservative or liberal. It’s not about who won or lost in November. It’s about the fact that it is now fucking March and some people still have election signs up. Exactly what are you supporting? If you’re a Kerry guy, well guess what, he lost, it’s over. If you’re a Bush guy, well. He won. It’s over., You can take the sign down now.
I don’t even really get the point of political signs. I mean sure they show their support, but does anyone really base their decision on who they’re voting for on the signs that are sitting in their neighbors yard? If they do then we have a bigger problem than I even thought. Its the presidency, not a Steeler game.
What’s even worse is bumper stickers. I’ve seen 2 cars each with bumper stickers for Kerry or Bush produly affixed across the back in the last 24 hours. This shows no foresight at all. If we accept for a moment that maybe you having a sign does have some negligible effect on the election (and hey, people are stupid, maybe they do vote based on who had the most signs), then what’s the point of having an advertisement for the election stuck to your car after its over that you can’t get off. What if you’re still driving the same car next election. What if its November 4th, 2008 and I’m stuck behind your 2003 Saturn still with the Kerry Edwards bumper sticker on it and staunch republican Kerry Edwards of Round Rock, Texas is running for president, and you have just inspired me to vote for him. What then? Putting a candidate bumper sticker on your car seems to me to be the equivalent of tattooing the name of some girl who was hot in the 8th grade across your chest.
Actually, that’s the answer. I think I am gonna get Perot, Nader and Badnarik tattoos and then I’m gonna stake signs in my front yard that say Gonzalez/Fernandez 1988 and Alicia McDonald 1983 in my front yard.
Goddamn Felicia Gonzalez was hot!
You think that’s annoying? One of the people at my office drives a minivan which still has one of those “Sore/Loserman 2000” parody bumperstickers.
yeah, that’s basically my point. I mean, that’s a little better. At least its a joke or something. Not a terribly good joke, but it could be argued that its timeless. I feel like I’m gonna be driving around and see a Dole or Mondale sign still up anyday now.
we have a mondale sign in our basement.
no joke.
but you don’t display it.
true. I did start considering putting up a Kerry sign when the Bush signs in my neighborhood started popping up all over. but they would be down by now, yo.
you should have put up the Mondale sign. Actually, what would have been gold is if you had a Dukakis sign. Bush vs. Dukakis II!
Yeah… campaign signs for an election that happened nearly half a year ago have a knack for finding a place under my skin too.
As to the impact of campaign signs to begin with… ie: To what effect during the election did they have on the voting populace… I agree that they can’t have much sway for anyone who is on the fence. For me and Lacy, our “SUPPORT THE TROOPS – VOTE BUSH OUT” was simply a passive aggressive backhand to the local populace. If you were to judge the conservative/liberal ration on our road by signs alone, then it looked as if we were the only blue folks in a river of red.
They’re just a gimmick, really. A nice way to support your party by forking over some cash to fuel their campaign. In return, they give you a sign to put in your yard. Like-minded people driving by will pump their fist in the air when seeing it. Likewise, supporters of the other party might give you the finger as they speed down the road in a huff.
I still see quite a number of Bush signs in people’s yards. It can’t be laziness… I mean, it’s not like their christmas lights are still up. They just proud or some shit.
yeah, I buy the part about “I buy this button for a dollar and that’s one dollar closer so-and-so is to being elected.” But at this point, I really have to believe that both the Bush and the Kerry people who still have their signs up are trying to make a point. It’s not just that they really want to get the most for their money’s worth out of the $5 worth of signage. Its not laziness. People seem to really think that their sign makes a difference. And if it ever had any meaning, that mean definitely vanished 4 months ago. I could maybe see keeping the signs of the loser around through the inaugeration as a protest. Or maybe even in Gore’s case where people felt like the election had been stolen, they’d want to keep the sign as a “This man is my president, I don’t care what the records say.” But keeping the Kerry sign up just seems silly and keeping the Bush sign up seems utterly pointless. But people do it. I feel like there must be something I am missing.
*shrug* I had a Kerry/Edwards bumper sticker on my old car. Of course, I put it on knowing that I was getting a new car shortly after the election…
But also, being a “Blue” Person in a “Red” State, it’s nice to occasionally see that I’m not alone…
yeah, see, I could see having a button or bumper sticker with the elephant or the donkey on it that identifies you to other party members as a show of solidarity. Your party affiliation is longer standing., But identifying yourself by the person you voted for awhile ago, and likely never will have the opportunity to again, doesn’t cut it for me.
You’ve got a point. I’m just saying, on a personal level, that seeing Kerry stickers on Virginian cars still brings a smile to my face. 😛
ok, I will grant that I guess that is something… but just you wait til you see my bumper sticker with Felicia and Maria on it in all of their 8th grade hottie glory.
Looking ever so forward to it, m’man… 🙂
well, to be fair, I haven’t seen Felicia in like 12 years and Maria in like 16. So I don’t actually know if they’ds still hot or not. And really, I don’t know that they’d even be hot then by my standards today. The picture in my mind is based on their looks as a 14 year old girls in the 80s and the judging is based on the hormones and experience of me as a 14 year old boy.
But through the haze of memory. Daaaaaaaaammmmmmmmnnnnnn!
well that’s different. That’s the “somebody-else’s-problem” technique. Its my last day in the apartment and I already burned through the security deposit, so what the hell, lets trash the joint.
Kinda. I’m pretty sure that last car is in cube form right about now… *weep*
there’s probably some sort of metaphor there.
You’re right that they are very much like tatoos – bumper stickers are a pain to get removed. But I think they do have some sort of subliminal effect. People like to vote for the winning candidate, and so if they see lots of bumper stickers for a candidate, they think that one has a shot of winning and is thus more inclined to vote for them. Not that I think this is a significant contribution, but considering the cost of bumper stickers, not unworth the investiment. Plus oftentimes they are used as gifts for support/donations.
yeah, that’s why I picked tattoos. I dunno, maybe they do have a subliminal effect. If I make you a Felicia Gonzalez bumper sticker will you put it on your car? Can you get your friends to do the same? Maybe we can get her into office in a 3 years. I wonder if she’s still hot.
Polls also have a similar effect on the vote. This is why both sides always manage to arrange for polls to show that they are ahead. I wouldn’t pollute my car with a bumper sticker(just like I wouldn’t get a tattoo), but a Felicia Gonzalez bumpter sticker would certainly increase awareness of her. Too many people vote with the “I saw that name somewhere, but I can’t remember where, so I’m going to vote for them” mentality.
yeah, I suppose I get that it maybe has some effect when Heywood Jablome is running for Under Assistant to the County Executive Coronor General Representative of the 17th ward, but I don’t feel like anyone who was going to actually bother to vote wasn’t aweare of the names Kerry and Bush already anyway.
And yeah, I know that the polls do have that effect on the voters, especially the undecideds, but still, the election was 4 frickin’ months ago
I agree that the election was that long ago, but it’s generally too much effort to remove a bumper sticker. People are too shortsighted to see that the Kerry/Bush 04 sticker will be just plain pointless in a couple short months. Look at how many people get tattoos spur of the moment and get bored of them later?
are you making fun of the “I ♥ JJ Fad” tattoo I have on my ass?
It’s my job to make fun of everything, including your ass. =P
Worship my ass! Worship it, Lee. Its a perfect circle. Scientists use it to calibrate their instruments.
I’m amazed you’ve seen so few. Then again, I work (and, more to the point, park) on a university campus every day. This place is so “blue” I have trouble seeing my legs when I’m wearing jeans. This really surprises me, since when I was a student here, apathy reigned supreme. Well, at least Optimus Prime is still winning student senate seats.
there may be more and I’m just not seeing them. But I work in the strip, in a building that is mostly “red” and where there are very few residences. So not so much with the signs, and people who can afford nicer cars aren’t usually so much with the bumper stickers either.
people who can afford nicer cars aren’t usually so much with the bumper stickers either
Clearly, you have no idea just how much a tenured Professor makes… They’re usually the ones with all the stickers. 🙂
oh…. I meant here. Must just be different where you work. But I don’t know too many people here who have Jags with bumper stickers that say “My Other Car is a Porsche” or anything like that.
yesterday I saw a car COVERED in Kucinich stickers. Yes, Kucinich. The stickers made up the entire “paint job” of the car.
We do have people with “Mondale!” stickers here. As well as “Wellstone!”. And dude, he’s dead.
Don’t knock dead people. dead people are among the most honest of all politicians. A dead guy beat Ashcroft.
What, like this?
That car belongs to a coworker.
that there is… uh… something, all right.
Its the presidency, not a Steeler game.
I resent the implication that the presidency is somehow more important than a Steelers game.
not at all. Quite the contrary, in fact. Just saying they’re different. For starters, with the Steelers, and football in general I like to believe that my show of support for the team actually means something. I have a possible effect on the outcome. With the presidency, not so much.
This morning, I saw a Kerry sticker on a car that also had “Don’t believe what you think”. I was confused.
hmmm… yeah, I don’t even understand what that means.
oops, it was “don’t believe everything you think”
I still don’t really get it.
I think that political signs show support and help inform other people of who’s running. Like for smaller elections like Mayor or senator… I probably wouldn’t know most of the people. Hopefully no one votes on the basis of signs alone. And yes, they should be taken down around November 3rd.
yeah, that’s what i was getting at with. It sort of makes sense for a publicity thing if you’re a lower candidate., And even if you’re running for President, it can’t hurt.
But it was FOUR MONTHS AGO!
“does anyone really base their decision on who they’re voting for on the signs that are sitting in their neighbors yard?“
i have.
i mean… in really minor local races where i’ve never even heard of any of the candidates, my vote has been influenced by “geez this dude’s got signs friggin EVERYWHERE and i’m sick to death of seeing his name, i’m voting for the other guy.”
interesting… So are you advocating the purchase of campaign signs for the other guy as kind of a reverse psychology during election time?
doubtful. the general feeling seems to be, no publicity is bad publicity, and this is probably true for most people. i just find myself being annoyed by being overinundated by a message or a slogan or a brand name or whatever, and to me personally, i think sometimes too much publicity CAN be bad publicity.
yeah, i think that in general you can over advertise. It depends on your campaign though. But you definitely want to make sure that your message doesn’t get too annoying if it is viewed too many times, be it in politics or other advertising.
Um… here.
see, that’s different. Someone probably put that up when he died as a testament/memorial to him. Now if they’d been stuck there for the last 21 or 25 years, that’d be something.
damn, and here I thought you were gonna have a picture of felicia gonzalez
I’m pretty sure they went up before he died.
I don’t know this felcia gonzalez, but there’s a nice picture of my breastal area floating around that you’re welcome to enjoy.