August 11, 2008
Paying for campaign signs
Apparently, this is not uncommon:
“The first time I had to pay for one, I said, ‘Are you kidding me? I have to pay to put your sign in my yard?’ ” she said.
But many people are willing to pay, perhaps because the historic campaign could make the signs valuable keepsakes. County Democrats sold signs to 450 people in the first two hours they announced plans to offer Obama displays.
Ms. Ewing said the Obama campaign would give a certain number of free signs to each state. But she figured that will amount to only 10 complimentary signs for Dallas County.
Mr. Obama’s campaign wouldn’t say whether it will give away a bundle of signs but pledged to help Texas Democrats.
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8 Responses to “Paying for campaign signs”
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I’ve always gladly paid for campaign signs. One reason for charging for signs is to keep the less ethical among the opposition from scooping them up by the truckload and disposing of them, as a means of undermining the campaign.
I remember going to the Mondale headquarters in Dallas back in the day and being scrutinized by the campaign workers there. There was so little support for Mondale in Dallas (well, in the entire country–but especially in this part of it) that they were leery of me at first. We also had Mondale bumper stickers ripped from our cars that year (presumably by the good Republicans who believed anyone who didn’t support Ronald Reagan to be anti-American).
I am relatively disappointed no one has clicked on the link yet. I guess I didn’t use the right bait.
maybe try the anti-christ angle.
I was hoping to be subtle, but I should know better around here. GO BIG or GO HOME.
Ya’think that signs and bumper stickers make any difference in the outcome of the general election? I mean, I can see some benefit in the primaries, when every candidate is something of a dark horse and needs name recognition more than anything.
But…the general? By then, it’s red team vs. blue, and I just can’t imagine many people changing their minds based on the choices of their neighbors. Perhaps there is a perfectly obvious explanation I am missing; if so, I would appreciate it if you could also share with me where babies come from.
We live on a prominent corner that sees much traffic. It’s important in a city like Dallas to make it clear that not everyone votes Republican. Otherwise, we might as well not vote at all, since the state invariably goes red.
And, yes, I actually do think it’s possible to influence some voters with something as simple as a sign or bumper sticker–to the extent that humans influence each other at all.
Dallas is very much a keeping up with the Joneses sort of town. I think Cindy is right. Showing people that there is an option could have an impact in a place like this.
And for what it’s worth. Dallas went blue last election.
Yes, Dallas went blue in the last statewide election, which was wonderful. And I’m naive enough to believe that the state could possibly go for Obama in this election, given the changing demographics. But it’s a slim hope.