I am dreading when the general election signs go up. As I live in a joint building I can’t put a sign out on the lawn I hate Trump, and won’t be able to put up a Harris/Walz sign.
The good news is your trumpy neighbors can’t put up their signs either.
The bad news is at least some of them will do it anyway.
I ran a 150-unit condo complex during the 2016 & 2020 campaign seasons. of course all signs, including political signs, were / are prohibited. Of course we had a few non-compliant unit owners & unit renters. 100% of whom were rightists who claimed their team represented the “party of law and order”. Morons.
As to right now right here (SoFL) I'm seeing more and more trump signs and flags on pickup trucks every day. Not many in an absolute number, but the change is real.
I imagine that we will see more of those trump flags festooned on trucks in my area in the next several weeks (rural Western PA).
I am headed down to Northern Virginia this coming weekend and have to travel through some heavily trumpated wilderness. I’ll keep an eye out for trump visuals and report back lol.
Right. But, of course, requires ignoring the greater federal funds received than taxes paid, huge (indefensible IMO) farm subsidies, FEMA relief for floods/tornadoes…
“Well yeah, but other than all THAT, we’re being ignored!”
The day after Labor Day last year, it was a scorcher in South Jersey so I went to Old Smithville, a little shopping “village” in Galloway Township, figuring it would be cooler closer to the shore and a lake.
As I strolled the shops, I passed by a sports-memorabilia-and-T-shirt shop. The T-shirts and outdoor flags were all guns-and-flags and “Try That In A Small Town” and all kinds of that stuff. There may have been some overtly Trump-friendly merch but I’m not sure.
So I text my sister: “If this is supposed to be a blue state, you’d never know it from some of the merchandise in Smithville.” She replied, “Yeah, South Jersey that deep is mostly Trump.” I guess, going back to the Cracked essay I linked to, it’s because the area is fairly rural.
Lotta small business people are hard core trumpers. They totally buy into that “taxation is evil, any regulation is an abomination, a businessman is a special breed who deserves to keep all he can steal.” schtick.
Which businessmen, if in retail, have a real habit of salting their merch with lots of trumpy stuff.
I live at the beach in South Florida. Generally the urban / suburban and beachy areas are D. One of the several chains of shops selling cheap beach toys and tourist trinkets in the tourist zones is owned by a raging trumpie.
Back in 2016 & 2020 it was amazing how much trump-flavored beach gear he (yep, “he”) carried. Who knew you could get beach towels, beach umbrellas, and kids’ swim suits emblazoned with the ugly mug and revolting thoughts of the Orange Menace? Not I. But it was so.
I’ve not been back this political season to check, but next time I’m nearby one of that brand of store I sure will. Takin’ one for the team.
We did- back in 1865. They lost.
I think one thing to keep in mind with regards to the number of trump flags we see is that trump and his family have taken over the RNC and so they aren’t spending what little money they have on those sort of freebies. Also the stuff they do have all say ‘Joe and the Ho’. Ugly trump has been complaining about the millions they’ve spent expecting to go against President Biden.
I just came back from a trip from southwestern PA to Winchester, Virginia.
There were more signs than when I went last month (July 2024) but still not to the extent it had been in previous election years.
Oh there were some barns with giant trump signs painted on them through some of the more rural areas lol.
I’ve seen signs around here, for years, saying “Honk If You Love [fill in the blank.]” There’s one (just one that I’ve seen) in the nearest village saying “Honk for Trump.” When I went to demonstrations (against the R’s) in 2021, some of the people driving by honked at us – along with a thumbs up.
At least in this area, honking is generally considered a sign of approval.
– In this mostly red but with a distinct blue streak area, I’m not seeing a lot of anybody’s signs yet. I did, one day recently when driving through the second-nearest village, see a stall apparently selling Trump merchandise which had spilled all over most of one lane of the main street through the town. I debated yelling out the window something like “You’re blocking legitimate traffic and so is Trumpism” (it would have been safe enough, around here), but I didn’t have the energy right then and just did what everybody else seemed to be doing, which was wait for a gap in traffic and come around them in the opposite lane. Haven’t seen them since, though I’m not in town every day.
Last election, when I did see signs, I saw quite a few on both sides. There’s not a lot of sense my putting one up, where I live; almost nobody would see it. I don’t generally do bumper stickers, but I might this year.
It is still early, but I wonder if 2020 was peak sign.
The percent of the U.S. population living in HOA’s has increased. I don’t know how many forbid signs, but people in them probably do not want to risk an issue.
That may be an issue in some places; but HOA’s are very rare in this county – I’m not sure that we have any at all. Some of the private roads have road associations, but mostly they’re just for road maintenance.
It might just be too early in the cycle; I don’t know.
Don’t forget my favorite - - indoor plumbing.
Out here, that’s usually a private septic system and private well for each house.