I really think
this Good Question is interesting. What do political yard signs really say? I think most average people think signs are there as an advertising tool, kind of a personal billboard. But political professionals argue that yard signs make supporters happy (which is important) but that's about it.
Last night we talked with
Elana Wolowitz from Wellstone Action!, a group that trains "progressive" (Democratic) candidates for office, and they train them that "Signs don't vote." She told me the Obama campaign handed out T-shirts to volunteers in one office with that message. Signs are such an entrenched part of campaigns, and they take up a lot of time of staffers and volunteers. Time and money that would be better spent sending out direct mail, organizing get-out-the-vote efforts, and knocking on doors, so they argue. (Check out
FiveThirtyEight.com for more on that, via
Ed/Twitter)
Yet the signs persist.
Why? Do you see value in signs? Have you ever used them in one of your campaigns? Have you ever voted based on a sign? (Confession: Right after I moved here, when I voted in my first election, I voted for a City Council memeber because I remembered seeing his name on a yard sign.)
A sample of comments from followers of
my Twitter page:
"
jenc17
In their simplest terms, they divide people who I think could normally
get along. They also can deter patrons from businesses."
"justacoolcat
The point? Name recognition, my buddy doesn't even say what he's
running for on his sign, just "Vote" and his name."
"hammerikaner
@DeRushaJ Lawn signs work in areas where voters need an emissary to make it okay to support someone (Obama in rural VA)
"sheldonM
@DeRushaJ Major presidential candidates signs--i think they just give your supporters something to do"
