If there’s a campaign sign in a yard in my area, it’s almost always pro-Trump. Also, if a person is wearing a hat or shirt that’s overtly political, it’s almost always pro-Trump. Also, if someone has a political sticker on their car, it’s almost always pro-Trump or anti-Biden/anti-Harris.
My county is probably 70% Trump voters. And they’re much more in “yer face” than any Democratic voters.
I was getting gas the other day. One lane over from me, two middle-aged white guys were talking about the weather. One of them talked about how hot the south was in the old days, and that “global warming is a bunch of hooey”…He spoke very loud, as he seemed to want everyone to hear him. He had a truck with a “G” (for UGA football), and one of his buddies came out of the convenience store wearing a “MAGA Ultra” shirt. Another buddy came out without any Trump stuff on his shirt, and the 3 of them drove off in the truck.
Last night, my wife and I went to a waffle house. One of the customers was wearing a Trump hat, and had a Trump sticker on his car.
These types of sightings are common when I go out in my local area.
Prior to 2016, these types of displays were very uncommon. Now, they’re all over the place. I feel “surrounded” by these Trump folks.
I wonder if Metro Atlanta has a different dynamic with more obvious supporters of Harris. Georgia is a swing state now. But it doesn’t feel that way where I live.
I’m in a town that voted 58% for Biden in 2020 in Massachusetts. The Trump signs and flags are EVERYWHERE. I have seen exactly on Biden|Harris sign (it’s been up since the spring).
In 2020 there were a lot more blue signs (and also BLM and rainbow flags)
I know, personally, I am intimidated by gun owning neighbors who appear to be positively deranged but would be supported by the police if they vandalized my house or worse. And I live in a state where at least at the state level I can count on some protection.
I have lived in suburban Atlanta before. It’s pretty similar there. Area voted slightly Democratic but signs were overwhelmingly Republican because in our subdivision the known belligerent assholes were all Republicans.
I live in a red county in a red state (Kentucky). I have seen next to no Trump signs, none in my neighborhood.* Even the hyper-Christian vax-resentful folks who are my closest neighbors haven’t put up any Trump signage (the most they ever did was display a sign supporting an anti-abortion ballot proposition, which failed).
No signs up for Democratic candidates either. But it’s early days.
*I’ve spotted maybe one MAGA hat down at the local Rural King, which is kind of a redneck Wal-Mart.
I’m sympathetic, as I live in a pretty red county in a very blue state. I’m afraid to display anything political (signs, bumper stickers, clothing).
I bought this house just over 40 years ago. I wish I had bought someplace that, today, would be blue. I’m uncomfortable with the unfriendly environment outside our little secret island of blue.
It’s been my experience that the right is far more belligerent (or at least far more demonstrative) than the left when it comes to wearing in-your-face gear or displaying flags, stickers, and the like. It doesn’t necessarily mean you’re outnumbered, just out-dumbed.
I live in a part of Northern Virginia that is blank as far as political expression goes. None of my neighbors ever indicate any political affiliation at all. But we keep re-electing a liberal Democrat to Congress, and the local UU church flies a rainbow flag. It’s home.
This. Around here (South Texas), I see the red hats, bumper stickers, and in a few cases flags. No yard signs, but I think that just means yard signs are out of style this election season. The only place I’ve seen them are the ones right in front of the polling places.
My town is pretty much 50-50 but not a lot of MAGA types, more older NJ moderate Republicans. There isn’t many banners/flags for politicians, but the ones I see are almost all Trump. I think the Trump supporters like being in your face about their misguided support.
This is a town where you see American flags all over the place and service flags and Ukraine Flags in a fair number. I also see Diversity type flags. The various flags outnumbers Trump flags probably 100 to 1, but still those Trump flags do stand out.
For some reason this Central Jersey town is heavy on vets, including me.
I live in Kentucky, also. Just a few minutes outside of Louisville, but I see a lot of Trump hats and signs. My next door neighbor has a “Trump 2024” flag in the front of their house.
We bought our house 42 years ago in what was then one of the reddest counties in the country. In 2020 Biden took almost 60% of the vote – so you just can’t tell. I’m pretty sure there was no way to predict in 1984 which way either your county or mine would vote now.
I agree with the notion that MAGA voters are more demonstrative about their preferences. I saw more Trump yard signs than Biden in 2020 – but again, Biden took almost 60%. But there are usually way more signs for local races than for POTUS.
There’s a house down my street that is extremely conservative. There’s an advantage of living near such a red household – as I told my husband, if we ever get in the position where for some reason we can’t research the candidates for local office, all we need do is remember the names on the signs in front of that house and then vote for other candidate.
In the mid 1980s when I first arrived in the US, in my (really my parents’) social circle, the plumbers & electricians were Democrats and the doctors and lawyers were Republicans.
Now in my social circle it’s exactly the other way around. The only doctor I know who is a Republican is a very devout Catholic and votes strictly on banning abortion and contraception. And all the UNION carpenters, plumbers and electricians I know are MAGA.
Republicans are members of a cult. And the cult deems that you must advertise to others that you are in the cult.
This advertising serves to bond the cult together - to make them seem like they are the majority, and to sooth their feelings of insecurity and fear.
Cults operate in part by separating cult members from the rest of society. This display of Trumpism serves this purpose, as they can’t isolate all the members into a special compound.
This does get a little old. Some Republicans are members of a cult would be pretty accurate. But your statement implies all. The Republican Party has found enough major and very divisive wedge issues to form a coalition between the rich who only want to be richer and all the various groups of Gun owners, Anti-Abortion, Anti-LGBT, Pro-Coal/Oil, Anti-Vaxxers, School Prayer, Anti-Drug Legalization, and especially anti-immigration among probably another dozen I missed.
I live in Austin – the blueberry in the tomato soup of Texas. So my immediate neighborhood is a lot of “In this household, we believe in science” and “Mothers Against Greg Abbott” (and a concerning number of RFK, Jr. signs). Haven’t actually seen any Harris signs yet. But I don’t have to drive too far out of town to where it’s all Trump country.
The trend for decades now has been that Americans are consolidating themselves based on ideology, both among and within states. Politically, you could describe nearly every state as “heavily Democratic urban centers surrounded by light blue immediate suburbs, light red exurbs and deep red rural areas.”
I’ve heard MAGAs say that one piece of evidence that the 2020 election was stolen is that they never saw Biden hold rallies with big turnouts like Trump did, so there was no way Biden could have had as many voters as Trump.
My parents live in Wisconsin, which is a swing state, but other than in Milwaukee and Madison, it tends to feel very Trumpy. In their neighborhood, there are occasional signs for Democratic candidates, but they’re drowned out by the Trump signs – and, when I was up there a couple of weeks ago, some signs for the GOP candidate for the U.S. House, whose signs feature the words “ENDORSED BY TRUMP” that are nearly as large as the candidate’s name. One guy, a couple of blocks away from my parents, has two very large signs (like, 6 feet by 10 feet) in his front yard: one for Trump, one for the House candidate. And, he’s hooked up floodlights, so that the signs are illuminated at night.
As far as the clothing, stickers, etc., it feels, to me, like an extension of sports fandom. In the OP’s area (and as they noted in their post), it’s UGA; up in Wisconsin, everyone wears Packers gear and/or University of Wisconsin gear, as a symbol of their “fandom.” Now, many of them have worked Trump/MAGA gear into their wardrobes.
I live in rural red western PA at the moment. In past years there were far more trump signs visible in the local area.
We have a few vile individuals who broadcast maga advertising on well placed electronic billboards on major highways. I usually whip the finger at them out of my car window when passing.