Today I drove from Toronto, Ontario to Lexington, Kentucky. Because I wanted to cross the border early in the drive, I took the slightly longer route of crossing at Buffalo, taking the thruway out of New York through the Erie, Pennsylvania bit and on through Ohio, from Cleveland through Columbus and across to Kentucky at Cincinnati. I therefore had to basically drive all the way thorugh Ohiu, that incredibly important swing state.
So I thought, hey, I know. I’ll count bumper stickers!
So as I happily trundled along the various Interstates through the Buckeye State I scrupulously counted Clinton and Trump bumper stickers. Here is the final count:
Trump: 0
Clinton: 0
Seriously. I saw THOUSANDS of cars. I really did look for bumper stickers. I saw bumper stickers - for radio stations, countries, USA!, Ohio State, stickers with this and that, but not one single Trump or Clinton bumper sticker. Not one. Not on an Ohio-plated car. Not on an out of state car. None.
Gosh, I thought. Things will change in Kentucky. Kentucky is heavily Trump, until you ask around in Lexington, which is rich and educated and so very blue. There will be bumper stickers there!
Not a single one.
Take from this what you will, but I don’t sense a lot of enthusiasm.
I took a picture of 3 Hillary Clinton cars parked at an intersection in San Antonio, Texas. This occurred yesterday right befor the debate. There was NOT a watching party near this location, so it wasn’t that.
I live in a heavily Republican area. There aren’t a lot of yard signs or bumper stickers for* anyone* – neither federal, state or local elections, Democrat or Republican. If you did a survey, “Garage Sale” would win by an overwhelming majority.
I guess a few more will pop up as we get closer to the election, but around here, people just don’t shout their politicsw like they used to.
I don’t see many bumper stickers for either here though in Houston. A couple Trump ones maybe; same with lawn/window signs. That may come as no shock to a lot of people but Houston isn’t as red as the rest of the state.
Bardstown, KY is a very pretty little town in the heart of Bourbon country btw. If you’re in Kentucky a while it’s worth a visit.
Yeah, I’ve got a Hillary bumper sticker. I’m not going to put it on my car so someone can decide to vandalize it when they’re walking by. The odds are remote that would happen, but the odds of changing someone’s mind with a bumper sticker are similarly remote.
I have noted the virtual absence of stickers/lawn signs in the general. I live in a swing area in a blue state. (State Reps are Republican, Congressperson is Dem, county officials are mostly Republican, but with a couple of Dems.) I did see stickers during primary season for Sanders, and a couple for, if you can believe it, Carson.
Automobile rule #1: No bumper stickers and no vanity plates. I certainly wouldn’t get a LOCRIAN plate. Posters would posts pictures of my car and sound off on how dirty it is.
Here in my Tennessee suburb (solid Trump country), I mostly see yard signs for the local State Representative race for my district, running about 60%-40% for the incumbent Republican. But that’s actually a pretty good showing by the Democrat - I’ve got two of her signs in my yard.
Also a number of signs for our Republican mayor. I haven’t heard a thing about his opponent, if he even has one.
As far as the presidential contest, there are a smattering of Trump signs in the neighborhood but not a whole lot. I heard about my first Clinton sign yesterday but haven’t driven by yet. One of our neighbors has had three Trump signs vandalized, but his next-door neighbor hasn’t.
Someone around here keeps stealing Hillary yard signs. I’m currently on my third. There are a couple more on our street, plus one Sanders sign that strangely never gets stolen. No Trump signs.
I’m wondering if the campaigns just aren’t handing out the bumper stickers this year.
I volunteered yesterday for the first time this election season at the county Democratic office. One person stopped by to ask for a Hillary bumper sticker and was told none were available. The best the person at the desk could do was suggest going online to get one; another volunteer said that the Hillary website offered a package of a bumper stickers and buttons for a few dollars.
The office did have a lot of Hillary yard signs for sale, and sold a few during the 2 hours I was there. Oddly, they were out of yard signs for Tammy Duckworth, and were offering window signs for those who had asked for the yard signs.
The only yard sign I have seen in my neighborhood is one for Trump. The only yard sign I noticed during the primaries was for Sanders.
People are embarrassed of their own candidate and don’t really want to be associated with them or they don’t really like them very much. I live in a solid blue part of Virginia and there were Obama stickers everywhere in 2008 and 2012. I only see Hillary bumper stickers very rarely around here now. There is a dentist that has a home/office at a busy intersection that puts up 30 foot yard signs supporting the Republican candidate every election. heck I wouldn’t know there was an off year election sometimes if not for his humongous yard signs.
I see more bumper stickers bashing Trump or Hillary than supporting Trump or Hillary. Sometimes both on the same car.
As an aside to those who think only Trump voters can vandalize cars.
I recently had my car keyed and the only thing I have on my car is an NRA bumper sticker.
I’ve been seeing a fair number of Clinton bumper stickers, but that might be because my area is strongly-enough liberal (the suburb I live in just might literally be the most liberal municipality in the country) that folks around here figure it’s safe. Of course, many of them commute to Cleveland or to other suburbs to work, but the metropolis and the adjoining suburbs are also relatively liberal.
Driving around the DC area I’ve seen a few Hillery stickers and a few Trump stickers. I wouldn’t trust myself to give an accurate count as to the proportion. But I probably see more Obama/Biden stickers than either.
It’s the same here in my city , this time of year there are signs up in people and bumper stickers on cars. I haven’t seen one sign or bumper sticker for either party. I really think people are too afraid to say who they’re voting this election b/c of Trump making America ‘Hate’ more! The guy is a walking time bomb !
As a resident of Ohio, I have also not seen an abundance of bumper stickers. Yard signs, on the other hand, are definitely out there and by my unofficial estimate Trump leads the yard sign battle 7 to 2 in the 25ish miles I drive to work.
It will be interesting to see if and how that dynamic changes through October because in years past yard signs have been roughly a 50/50 split in my area.
This is not exactly a stunning revelation, but most people on both sides are not excited about their candidate. Both have their loud supporters of course, but I’m sure most voters are casting their votes against a candidate rather than for one. I’m only starting to come around on Hillary and I’m still not enthusiastic enough to put a sign in my yard, although I have a couple for local candidates. I’d put up a No Trump sign sooner than an HRC sign.
