Future Boy wrote:In fact, I care about this election so much that I spent election day in New Hampshire holding a Kerry/Edwards sign outside of a polling place.
reposted from the review thread.
so, my question is, does this help at all? how many people go to the polling place thinking, "ok, i'm going to vote for whoever has the most signs on the lawn"? i'm not being argumentative, i don't really understand how much there is to gain by sitting outside all day. i know i already knew who i was voting for before i went there. and i avoided talking to any of those people
the same goes for the lawn signs. how do they help? i can see in certain elections that name recognition can be helped by signs, but in the presidential election, what's it do for you? everybody knows the names of at least the two party candidates already.
thoughts are welcomed.
-bill
i don't see how anyone could have possibly been undecided still. it's just ridiculous. i don't see how those people can even dress themselves in the morning. god! if bush wins then the citizens of muncie, in, had better be wearing helmets tomorrow.
in some of the smaller local elections where i don't actually know who any of the people are, i am swayed by who has NOT polluted my neighbourhood with a zillion different signs. looking at the candidates, if i think "oh i've seen this guy's name freaking EVERYWHERE" i am not voting for him. typically. (and by typically i mean the two times in my life i have voted).
The signs to me are useless...tv ads work better because I learn more about the candidate. I don't do my homework like I should but a sign stuck in the ground does nothing for me. Generally I vote against the republican unless I know more about the situation. This means that even if I don't know the names or have just seen them on a sign somewhere, i'll vote independant or democrat.
I voted Betty Castor knowing she is way to far to the left for my tastes..but I still figured she would be better than the Martinez guy. Minority republicans are a scary lot. (thats a gross generalazation but it rings true MOST of the time) Both of them had equal amounts of litter in my neighborhood.
I asked the same question regarding standing outside the poll with a sign. It was explained to me that some people really do go to the poll not knowing who they are going to vote for. If they see people outside of the poll holding signs for a particular candidate they are statistically more likely to vote for that candidate. That's how advertising works, folks. The most remarkable thing, to me, was that we didn't see a single Republican holding a sign despite the fact that the state was considered a contested state. And it went to the Democrats. Is there a correlation? Possibly.
Getting back to the power of advertising: A woman in one of the Dem offices told me about a radio program she listened to. On that program the host regularly interviewed a doctor in Florida for a few months. At the beginning of their discussions the doctor was in favor of Kerry, then, near the end of their discussions the doctor stated that he was thinking he'd vote for Bush instead because Bush had firm beliefs whereas Kerry was always "flip-flopping". This surprised the host of the show and he said to the doctor, "You know, we've talked a lot and you agree with Kerry on a lot of his issues like stem-cell research, abortion, and healthcare yet you want to vote for a man who has principles that are the oppositie of yours simply because he believes in them strongly?" At which point the doctor said, "Gee, I guess you have a point." Note that the doctor was living in a state bombarded by TV ads from the Republicans and one of their big smears was that John Kerry "flip-flopped". The doctor had not even realized that he had been subtly brainwashed by television.
We're totally trained to recognize brand recognition, and celebrities and politicians are advertised and publicized just like commodities. Maybe most of us don't listen to Britney Spears' music but we still recognize her name and her face, if not her music when we hear it. Publicity is half of the battle. So the signs out on your lawn and the bumper stickers on your car actually are doing some good. Unfortunately, repeating lies over and over until they become truths works pretty well, too.
Another factor is mob mentality. There was a time not too long ago that disagreeing with Bush seemed almost unpatriotic. Even still, there are people who to this day won't buy products made in France. Why? Because other people are doing it. People feel more comfortable doing things if they are certain that others around them are doing it too. Even if it makes no logical sense. So, therefore, it does help to go out there and wave a sign. It will help indecisive people to not second guess themselves. It also helps people to know they're making a good judgement to think they're not alone.
Well said, Jennifer. The signs make a big difference, not in the individual, but in the collective sense. If someone is driving through a neighborhood that is known to be made up of a particular demographic, and they see a lot of signs in lawns in that neighborhood, they will unconsciously start to associate the candidate with that demographic. I see people driving around in clownish big trucks or SUV's with Bush stickers and then I see someone driving a Prius with a Kerry sticker, that means a lot. If I ever saw (and I didn't) a big clownish truck with a Kerry sticker in it I'd do a double take.
It's not JUST the sign, it's whatever the sign is attached to that counts.
Future Boy wrote:I asked the same question regarding standing outside the poll with a sign. It was explained to me that some people really do go to the poll not knowing who they are going to vote for. If they see people outside of the poll holding signs for a particular candidate they are statistically more likely to vote for that candidate.
and just maybe, they felt that you felt strongly enough about a candidate to stand there with a sign in your hand and that alone should say something. it might be enough to make me walk over and ask you why you feel so strongly about it, if i was undecided.
good for you dude. i respect what you did. it's called volunteering, something that's becoming more and more a thing of the past.
Jim of Seattle wrote: they see a lot of signs in lawns in that neighborhood, they will unconsciously start to associate the candidate with that demographic. I see people driving around in clownish big trucks or SUV's with Bush stickers and then I see someone driving a Prius with a Kerry sticker, that means a lot. If I ever saw (and I didn't) a big clownish truck with a Kerry sticker in it I'd do a double take.
Yeah, whats funny about this is that I live in a pretty well to do neighborhood. On either side of my neighbhorhood there is a large body of water (Hillsborough Bay) and a toll highway. (Crosstown Expressway)
There is a two lane vein that pretty much divides the neighborhood right up the middle that leads through all the commercial development that the neighborhood visits. This two lane road has become a symbolic division line as well. The neighborhood is good on both sides, but on the other side of SWANN (and thats pretty much a phrase here) is the really REALLY nice homes. That side of Swann gets police protection and road blocks whenever there is an event in our neighborhood..it has nice picturesque street lamps and all of it's alleys are not only paved but are NAMED and most of them have their names stenciled on them. This part of the neighborhood is peppered with Bush/Cheney signs. My side of Swann (of course right?) is nice but it's not quite as picturesque. Peppered with Kerry/Edwards signs it still has quite a few B/C signs as well. It really catches my eyes when this general rule is broken when I see the K/E signs on the nicer side of Swann. It is really a contrast. I notice that. Neat.
