Yard Signs

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

Looking ahead to the fall election.

I was in Ohio in 2004 (OK, OK, I'm SORRY already!!) and we had an issue there immediately after the Convention in that we could NOT get Kerry/Edwards yard signs. I mean, we could get them by ordering them 2-3 at a time from their webite (at an insane cost when you counted the shipping). It wasn't until a local activist made a purchase, from a local printer, of some 30,000 yard signs that we had enough to go around. The local Democrat Party passed the hat to reimburse him -- although I'm sure he still made a sizeable "contribution" to get the job done.

Did we have that experience up here? And should we be thinking about how to secure yard signs for the fall?

[PeaceNikki]

1. The procurement was not the problem as much as the theft.

Many signs were stolen right out of our yards.

I had a few people in my neighborhood replace them for me. I was on a corner with a lot of traffic.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

2. Vaseline...

Makes them slippery. People were coming up with all sorts of ideas, including cementing the wire frames into the ground (some suggested wiring the signs to emit an electric shock -- which is a bad idea on several levels).

If you can secure the wire frame (and are using the polyvinyl bag) it's at least easy to slip a new sign over the old frame.

[tanglefoot]

6. Believe it or not - try tanglefoot...

http://www.biconet.com/traps/Tanglefoot.html
Apply this organic (castor oil, waxes, and resins) brown paste around the trunks of trees and shrubs to block access of crawling insects to leaves, buds, and fruit. Tree Tanglefoot Pest Barrier is effective against crawling insects such as ants, cutworms, inchworms, gypsy moth, cankerworm, pecan weevil, obscure root weevil, forest tent caterpillar, and tussock moths.

http://www.nixalite.com/tanglefoot.aspx
This non-drying, non-toxic clear sticky compound is used to discourage birds from landing on all types of surfaces. Tanglefoot remains effective in repelling birds for up to a year under normal conditions. Color and odorless, Tanglefoot is registered with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for use against pigeons, starlings and sparrows.

I'm told it's terribly sticky and a pain in the behind to remove. And that probably means your signs won't be reusable, but they probably won't be stolen more than once if at all. You might be able to use it on the wires too, and then take it off with something like WD-40.

This is why I chose tanglefoot as my user name - for those pesky, crawling Repuklikkkan insects.

[sybylla]

3. Yes, we did have that problem here - seriously.

After waiting for months, county party organizations got together to buy signs not from the Kerry/Edwards campaign but from local print shops and other party orgs that placed big orders.

As for planning this year, hopefully, the County Chair's Association will help make the yard sign thing happen in a more timely fashion - better yet, let's hope whichever campaign we end up with actually cares about putting out yard signs and makes them available. But I'm not holding my breath on that one.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

4. Do you have a contact at the County Chairs Assn?

I'd like to get started now rather than be scrambling the day after Labor Day.

[sybylla]

5. I'll pm you n/t

[ThisIsMyCountry]

7. No, no, no

We don't need yardsigns. Yardsigns don't vote! Yes, it is great to show your support for a candidate, but lets not invest money on yard signs. Lets save that money and donate it to the campaign so they can buy some more direct mail pieces or something. I remember a meeting once where a member of the legislature said she won't put up yard signs because they don't make a difference in the end. I agree with her.

[sybylla]

8. Disagree.

I hear this mantra all the time - yard signs don't vote.

While that's true, it misses a more important point - putting up a yard sign means a voter is making a commitment to a candidate and in very rural parts of this state where media based campaigns are difficult yard signs generate name recognition. Then there's that old yet ever-present philosophy that a campaign that doesn't have signage isn't a real nor credible campaign.

Whether any of this will be a problem for a presidential candidate makes no difference. Yard signs bring people in the door of county party offices where they'll capture a name, an address and, if they're lucky, a volunteer/donor who now has a very public stake in seeing their candidate win.

It's very short sighted to think that yard signs are a waste of money. Remember, it's not the size of the tool that matters, it's what you do with it.

[dragonlady]

10. Yard signs have an important place in a campaign

Politicians often use long lists of endorsements on their literature and advertisements, because they think endorsements work, and that's probably true. Yard signs are out there endorsing the candidate 24 hours a day, perhaps for weeks.

Another factor may be even more important in the long run. I remember driving around town looking for Kerry signs so I could offer a Bryan Kennedy sign as well. (It turned out to be a pretty good technique, by the way.) One woman said that was the first time she'd taken the step of putting out a sign and she wasn't ready to jump to two signs yet. I respected her honesty and understood her feelings about going public with her politics, which isn't easy at first. It takes time to get comfortable with that. Having a sign is a way to take that first step beyond just voting in secret, and may lead to more involvement. It also may be the only way that some people (elderly, disabled, too busy supporting the family) can help a campaign, and it's good to give them that outlet.

[sybylla]

11. Yep

I forgot to add the endorsement factor and the fact that being a cheerleader is the only way some people can help out.

It's frustrating to hear the anti-sign attacks. There are just so many reasons you can use them to your advantage as a candidate and a party. And they really don't cost that much as a percentage of total campaign expenditures for even an Assembly race.

It doesn't hurt to be prepared to print our own for the Presidential. It was such an embarrassment that Kerry didn't put any stock in them. Made the Dems look like they didn't have their act together.

[dragonlady]

12. One caveat about printing our own signs

I presume you mean professional signs printed in bulk to make them affordable. The campaign finance laws are so complicated that someone had better figure out whether private individuals printing signs to influence the election would trigger obligations to the FEC or violate any contribution limits. I haven't got time right now to devote to learning about that, but let this be a heads-up to avoid problems later on.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

17. That's a very good point...

Wisconsin has some freaky campaign finance laws -- and of course, these didn't effect us in Ohio in 2004. I'll do some research. Thanks for that very important reminder.

[dragonlady]

21. Not just Wisconsin

I was thinking of the Federal Election Commission. They're scary, and you don't want to mess with them.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

23. My thought just now...

Was that the Wisconsin laws do not apply, as this isn't a state election. With regrad to federal laws, as long as the sign doesn't have the "Paid for by Citizens for Obama/Hillary" at the bottom and are clearly not authorized by the campaign, I don't know of any law that prohibits it.

If I print up a yard sign (for $2) and give it to you as a gift, I'm not sure there's any government agency that has the authority to say or do anything about it.

But that being said, perhaps it would be better for the County Party to have a "yard sign" fund and for the Party to buy the signs.

[Viking12]

20. Very good point. Those are called 'contributions in kind' and are regulated

Before any individual or group organizes sign printing and distribution they should be aware of the legal specifics.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

26. Are they?

Since this is a federal election and not a state campaign, I don't think the Wisconsin laws apply (FEC is trump). And since I'm not giving something of value to the campaign (I'm giving it to my next door neighbor), I don't think the federal laws would apply either.

Any lawyers around here?

[sybylla]

24. That came up as a problem for some county parties in 2004

That's why I suggested that this be arranged through the County Chairs Association. They were the ones who brought the potential problems to everyone's attention last time. They should be able to make the sign purchase happen legally for every county party.

[ewagner]

27. Sybylla is right on!

Those yard signs did great things for us...they brought people in the door and then they volunteerd, gave money (for the signs if nothing else) and they showed the local repubs that there was a tremendous amount of support here in the reddish community...it was worth it.

Another example:

In that same race there was a great candidate for alderperson running against a real a-hole repub smuck of an incumbant...the repub bought and put out 50 yard signs but the challenger said, "Yard Signs don't vote!"...he lost to the a-hole by 12 votes....it had to do with name recognition and visible support !

In local/retail politics...yard signs count...

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

9. Direct Mail Pieces Don't Vote Either...

They don't even get read, most of the time.

If you're really interested, check out the Neighborhood Leadship Program by the DNC. It works like this:

1) You sign up. The DNC will give you training and a list of 25 Democrats who live in your neighborhood. These are people who have been identified as Democrats through previous contacts and phone banking.

2) You spend a Saturday afternoon knocking on the doors of these 25 Democrats. Have a brief chat with them about the issues they feel are important. Take notes!

3) Relay this information back to the DNC, so they can be sure that the literature sent to this voter addresses their concerns.

4) Make another contact during the summer months (I'm having a cookout).

5) Contact them again in the fall prior to the election. Make sure they know where our candidate stands on the issues. Make sure that if they need an absentee ballot, that they get one and that it gets sent in.

Three Days. We're talking three Saturdays between now and November.

In the 2006 VA Governor's race, the DNC piloted several approaches to GOTV (door-knocking blitz, direct mail, phone banking, and Neighborhood Leadership), and every approach boosted Democratic turn-out by 1-2%. The Neighborhood Leadership Program boosted turn-out by 12%.

That's going to win a lot of elections.

Yard signs do what they do (and they really are important), but nothing is more effective than neighbor-to-neighbor contact.

Sign up today at www.democrats.org and click on the "50 State Strategy" button on the right-hand side.

[Sabien]

13. robo calls and NRA stickers

don't vote either...

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

15. I think all kinds of calls have outlived their usefulness...

except for neighbor to neighbor contacts. When you start the call with, "Hi, I'm Jeff Ritchie and I live just up the street from you on Jones Drive..." the person being called is more likely to pay attention. The only robocalls I pay attention to are from the local Democratic Party (because I know the chair).

[Connonym]

14. Ok I want to help with the election but

I have really really bad social phobia. I'm literally terrified at the notion of knocking on doors. In the past before my anxiety worsened I was able to handle phone banks but last election I wasn't able to handle even that. The medication I have for it really dulls my mental acuity (or makes me seem like I'm stoned which is probably even worse). I'm more than happy to put up signs on my lawn or in my window and stickers on my car. I'm honestly not exaggerating here. I have limited funds available for donating. Edwards got most of my budget for that this year. What are other ways that someone like me can help because I really am passionate about this and I really want to do something that makes me feel like I'm helping to make a difference.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

16. Do it with a buddy...

No law states you have to do this alone. If you have a "chatty" friend who likes this sort of thing, go has a team. Other than that, every neighborhood needs somebody to be the yard sign warehouse -- if the Smith's need a sign, somebody in your local group knows the Connonym has them. They call you, and you deliver the sign. There will be fundraisers and other events that need extra pairs of hands for "grunt" work. Hey, somebody's got to make sure we have enough ice for the keg!

But with regard to the Neighborhood Leadership Program, I really want to stress that the names you'll get are KNOWN DEMOCRATS or people who lean strongly toward the Democrtic Party. You're not being sent out there to bang on the doors of every red-ass Republican in your neighborhood. This is strictly about motivating the people who are already basically on our side.

True fact via Howard and Joe Winneke: White, Blue-collar males vote 60-70% with the Republicans. UNLESS they're in a union, in which case they vote 60-70% Democratic. That's because union voters get contacted several times a year by a fellow union workers, reminding them that the Democratic Party is the party looking out for their interests. So think of the model as something like that: You're going to be making contact with people who are ALREADY on our side, making sure that they're motivated and ready to vote.

[dragonlady]

22. Let the campaign know are willing to do office work

They'll always have some data entry or mailings to get out. Yard signs have to be assembled, too. And in Milwaukee in the last week before the election, putting stickers on door hangers for 300 wards is a huge job but very important--to remind people one last time and tell them where their correct polling place is, to avoid confusion on election day. There's always a huge lit drop on that last weekend to deliver them.

[Disorientedx3]

18. Thanks for this link. I'm gonna do it. NT

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

19. Good For You!

And welcome to DU!!

[a kennedy]

25. I've seen more Ron Paul signs then anything.....

:shrug: I've counted at least 5 around my area.