Pick up your signs!
Trust me! I know how difficult it is to have to pick up your political placards after a loss. It’s no fun doing it in the current cold weather regardless.
My favorite sign retrieval effort was the one after Tao Martinez’ failed 2016 coroner campaign. Getting 4 x 4 signs out of the ground in a 40-mph wind is a fascinating proposition. I thought we were gonna get blown all the way to Kenosha.
But despite whatever a candidate might feel right now, you want to recover your yard signs because they aren’t cheap and you just might decide to give that office a second shot. Not only that, but most of the winners have general election opponents and they’ll need those signs in the fall.
Thankfully, most campaign teams have cleared the landscape. But we’re still waiting on:
- Elizabeth Flood
- Stan Bond
- Tom Hartwell, and
- Jeanne Ives
to collect their signs. Let’s hope they do it soon, because it reflects poorly on all candidates if they’re simply left to waste away.
You’re not the resistance
Look! Nothing makes me happier than seeing people get involved in the political process. I’ve been writing about that proposition for almost a dozen years now, so just thinking about the previous women’s march and all those young men and women protesting gun violence last week made me downright giddy.
The fastest route to political change is to aggravate women and young people as this batch of crazy conservative Republicans seem overly prone to doing. And every time a nitwit like Rick Santorum tells teenagers to stop marching and take CPR classes instead, it brings that old white male dominance downfall even closer to fruition.
We’ve done such a bang-up job, too!
But what drives me crazy (not that it’s a very long trip) are those raised fist “resist” or “join the resistance” signs.
Donald Trump was duly elected by a majority of those Electoral College delegates. He didn’t stage a coup, mount some sort of invasion, or steal the election. This isn’t 1944 France where the Maquis squared off against a brutal German occupation.
Had young and minority voters – especially Hispanics – managed to make it to the polls in 2016, Donald Trump would be mothing more than a distant and distasteful afterthought. It’s sad that it’s taken Trump to finally motive progressives to truly take on their Tea Party counterparts.
So, rather than hoisting a “resistance” sign, how about exhibiting one that simply says “Vote!,” because in this great country, that’s the only thing that’s ever changed anything.
Don’t believe me? Democrats have won special elections in Alabama, Virginia and Pennsylvania districts, all of which went big for Trump. Right here in our own Kane County back yard, for the first time ever, a Democratic primary nominee – Ron Hain for Sheriff – received 1,181 more votes that his Republican incumbent opponent.
But even though that vaunted 2018 “blue wave” appears as if it will actually become reality, the only way it happens is if you get your ample butt off the couch and drag it to a polling place in early November.
Resist? C’mon! It’s utterly unnecessary. All you have to do in America is make your voice heard!
Kane County Republicans better be looking over their shoulders
It’s not like I haven’t said it before! For Kane County children 10 and under, Caucasians are the minority. In fact, if it weren’t for our Hispanic brothers and sisters, much like it is in Japan, our population would be in a steep decline.
Now, add a 2018 KC primary in which a contentious GOP gubernatorial race and a lackluster Democratic counterpart still saw more Dems vote than Republicans, and the balance of party power is shifting in a very large way.
November 6 is going to be a VERY interesting day!
Does Loyola have a fight song?
Despite walking those hallowed halls for 2.5 years, I have no clue, so perhaps I’ll simply come up with a Ramblers Haiku!
Smothering defense
And an unselfish offense
Means Final Four fame
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, the Ramblers dispatched the Kansas State Wildcats on Saturday while barely breaking a sweat. After three wins by a combined four-point total, it was quite gratifying to see them blow out the competition.
Mark my so-far-prescient words, the Loyola Ramblers will make short work of the Michigan Wolverines on their way to yet more March Madness glory. All I can say is, this is even better than the Cubs winning it all!
Jeff,
Thanks for the comment. I may be old school but I believe it a political courtesy to pick up your signs. (Just a note Mr Mayes still had many signs out as well). I also will not vote for a candidate that places their signs on every available piece of public property, vacant home etc.
Dave, Thanks for weighing in. There weren’t many Mayes signs in my neck of the woods so that’s why I didn’t include him.
My strategy as a campaign manager is to put up your signs last, and put where where everybody else’s ain’t! And you and I both know that a 2 x 4 sign in a voter’s front yard is worth ten 4 x 4s on neutral ground.
I now feel compelled to respond to two of your topics in haiku:
1. In fairness to Flood
She asked folks to message her
She’d come get her signs.
2. Bitchy old white men
Think they now have a mandate
So yes, we’ll RESIST.
Sharry, In regards to Flood, that methodology is the height of arrogance. My candidates have a complete list of all of their sign locations. Ron Hain had his picked up withing two days.
And flood employed many neutral locations which means ain’t nobody gonna call!
Meanwhile, don’t resist – VOTE!
Jeff
If only left-behind signage were the height of political arrogance!
I used to study this stuff … check out the candidates, their positions, their goals, their promises. You know what all that careful consideration got me, that I can recall just off the top of my head? A guy caught driving on a suspended license who now thinks he’s qualified to be a judge … an embezzler, maybe two? … an ex-governor now in jail … and a child molester. And don’t even get me started on the Republicans. I’ve given up.
Responding like this
Pausing for a thoughtful time
Nurtures resistance
Not bad!
Nice!
Because of the way that the electoral college operates, there cold be increased turnout in 2020 of millions of voters, but if it isn’t in the right states, there could still be an electoral college win for a candidate who loses by 5 million votes instead of 3 million. As long as a vote from a state such as Wyoming counts 12 times more than a state like Illinois, that is the potential.
But Steve! Every candidate knows the rules. Hilary Clinton – with her vast entitlement mentality – took rust belt states for granted and she lost because of it. The next Democrat won’t make that same mistake!
My mother in law has had her beads out for every Loyola game.
Dave, I’m not superstitious at all! As long as you don’t count the Ramblers flag out front, wearing my Loyola sweatshirt for games, and naming my new dog “Rambler!”
There are 3,141 counties in the U.S. Clinton won 57; Trump won 3,084…a good reason for the Electoral College. Go Ramblers..!!
Pat, But Clinton got 3 million more popular votes. She should be president.
You might want to suggest to your client Mr. Hain that he removes his signs as well.
He and I have. If he or I have missed any, please let me know.