WHEN I WAS A KID growing up in the Midwest, one of our summertime ordeals was the annual very long car trip through the plains states. In South Dakota, the dreary landscape was broken up only by large signs nearly every mile advertising the merits of tourist trap Wall Drug.
Indeed, in South Dakota, Wall Drug signs are as ubiquitous as cornfields are in Iowa.
To a bored kid who had read all her Nancy Drew books and was tired of listening to her little brother ask "Are we there yet?" this Wall Drug sounded rather intriguing. But my dad always drove right through Wall, S.D. without ever stopping.
One summer, after much begging from me, we finally stopped and I ran out of the car with much anticipation to the disappointing discovery that behind all that advertising, Wall Drug just really didn't have that much to offer.
And so it also goes with the campaign signs in Ventura.
As I predicted back in August, the plethora of 15 City Council candidates, five school board candidates and three measures on the Nov. 3 election has brought with it a perfect storm of visual blight to the City of Ventura. It hasn't escaped my attention that the people and measures with the most signs are seeming a bit desperate these days. Sprouting like toadstools, signs are sticking in every tree well and roadside spot in the city. With every new one planted, three more pop up next to them.
And although it was certainly not the determining factor, it is not by accident that my vote went to the candidates with the LEAST amount of signs this year.
My fellow Star blogger Brian Dennert has a fun game he plays after every election called "Take down that campaign sign." Readers send in photos of those straggling signs still up many weeks later. We may play that game here, too.
I ASKED MY FRIEND Herb Gooch if those signs really influence voters. Gooch is a multi-titled political guru and professor at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks and one of the brightest guys I know.
"... Their main value is longer term in reinforcing credibility," Gooch said. "The more neighbors see neighbors putting them up, the more a sense of name ID and ground support is generated. In truth they are most important in their absence -- assuming some opposition uses them, and you have little or nothing, your absence makes the other guy look more credible than you. But if everyone has them, they don't have altogether much affect."
He added: "A final note: signs are relatives of bumper stickers -- they reinforce a sense that the candidate has support and remind people of name and logo (or at least colors), but don't convince people to vote one way or the other unless they are already predisposed to that way. They are less stimulators or determiners than reinforcers."
So... as long as people think they work, I guess we're stuck with this particular political tool. But like politics in general, it isn't pretty.
Marie,
I think you are just suffering from post-nondramatic syndrome from living in South Dakota. These are temporary signs. Soon they will go away.
I think signs are better than door hangers. I think I saw a Tony Strickland door hanger stuck to the back of a migrating whale one time.
Signs are a green product. They inform the public of their choices. Elton Gallegly has been using the same signs for two decades. It's the only thing he has mastered. You can't take that away from him Marie. It wouldn't be right.
When I put up my political signs, and I see a cluster like the one in your photo; that's the last place I put my sign. It doesn't represent the candidate well to be a part of that. If I stump for someone they aren't a dime a dozen. The placement of the sign should represent the quality of the person and their commitment to the community.
Oh yeah? Well I have the feeling you don't live here. Every single corner looks like that.
I think the whale was probably helping Tony out with his Wave Energy project. :-)
As much as I hate clutter and am upset when election signs stay up too long, they do offer a visible reminder that there is an election coming up. If they get one more voter to the polls they have done their job.
What really gets me is the outright LIES on signs.
The Yes on C crowd has told us that this measure will "Stop Crime" and "Stop Traffic" via their signage.
There is NOTHING in the measure that will STOP crime or traffic. What Measure C will stop is competition.
Measure C isn't even going to stop Walmart.
JohnDoe, I'm glad I'm not the only one that was wondering about the "stop crime" I'm seeing on Measure C signs. That whole measure is such a mistake - on so many levels.
Marie - as long as you have this thread going - I'd like to remind people to vote for Ed Summers and Mike Tracy. Also, I'd like to point out that just because there are four openings, you don't need to vote for 4 people. Just vote for the people you feel strongly about.
Ed Summers has the widest range of endorsements of any candidate. How often do you see the Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce AND the Hillsides group endorsing the same candidate?
http://www.edsummers4council.com/endorsements
If you're a Democrat, bullet vote for Brennan and Summers. No other Dems running.
Virtually all of Ed's individual (not assoc or org) are heavy hitters and they should have their title or affiliation put on his list. I see all types and a wide political spectrum - which is good! Same with Mike Tracy - no party line only support here.
The city council race is non-partisan. How about we vote for the people we think will do best for Ventura with no regard to political party?
Currently that means I will be voting for only ONE incumbent. We need fresh ideas. We need CHANGE. The tired old council has proven that they are not up to the task.
I'd rather vote for someone because I believe they will do better than to simply re-elect the incumbents because I was afraid of change.
Actually, the Police union helped me make up my mind when they sent me a letter urging me NOT to vote for Neal Andrews. Like every informed voter, I followed the money and the money led to a union who has a vested interest in keeping the old boy network going and doing everything they can to increase pension benefits. Neal Andrews has said that isn't a good idea now, and I agree.
Funny they forced the private sector to take down their billboards.....but up come these eyesores....and some type of street sign every ten feet.....
I see more up since that photo was taken.
Marie:
For someone who prominently describes herself as a "community activist" on this blog, and who dabbles in local politics, I find it quite disingenuous for you to single out political signs as a sordid form of political expression that should be banned by the government...
Political signs are a tangible form of constitutionally guaranteed Free Speech. Further, they are no more ubiquitous or obnoxious than all those mailers which clutter our mailboxes each election cycle. And I don't see you advocating the banning of political mailers...
Political signs are the modern-day equivalent of tribal flags and heraldic banners on the field of battle. And since political campaigns are a form of battle, they serve to inspire the morale of a candidate's own troops, and to distinguish vital differences between the candidate and his/her opponents.
After all Marie, Freedom of Thought, Speech and Political Expression is a God-given right, which is enshrined in the Bill of Rights. And let us never forget that such Constitutional protection has only continued because of the sacrifice of countless American men and women, on the fields of battle, the streets of our cities, and in the courthouses. Their hard-fought sacrifices should not be trivialized by the ill-conceived prospect of banning political signs by the government.
Furthermore, campaigns, like battles, come to an end, and the political signs over which you profess such self-righteous indignation come and go as do the political seasons. They are not forever..
As Americans, rather than debating the civic wisdom of government banning political signs we should be celebrating the fact that we live in a country where political pluralism and the market place of new political ideas constantly inspires us towards creative, different, and robust forms of political expression, of all types and forms... As Maurice Chevalier was fond of saying, “…Vive la difference!”
Marie, as the old saying goes, "..I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.." And that, Marie, applies not just to expensive political mailers designed by graphic artists, but to political signs, including the hand-made versions, crafted with the labor of love by volunteers, too..
NostraDemus
Don't like campaign signs? Vote for Brian Brennan. Since his first election campaign he has pledged to "not add to the visual blight of our city." He has proven that a candidate doesn't need the signs to get elected. If they are well known in the community due to their activism and dedication, they deserve to get elected on their merit. This is not a race to see who has the most signs. It's an election for a very important seat on the City Council. Go Brian!