What good do political signs do?

[Neptunian_Slug]

@andrewdt85

So what’s the point? It’s not like seeing the name actually prompts anyone to research the candidate(s)- either the voter is an informed one, or votes by party preference, or b/c of television/newspaper ads, or b/c of family/marriage/friends pressure to vote some way, or b/c of something they read (hi, Ayn Rand).

I say we petition these damn signs. Yeah, the ones you put in your lawn or business show your support for your candidate (like a bumper sticker does), but the rest are pointless and a waste of paper. Spend the money on your campaigns.

Oops- this isn’t the Pit- just a question of whether there’s a reason for them besides what I just mentioned.

For one thing they are a cheap way of getting people to remember your name, especially on local races. When you have three or four seats up on a school board, not a heck of a lot of folks will know every single person running. They may end up voting by party or basing a decision on mailers or phone calls. But when you see signs for Joe Blow all over the place, it may stick in your head on election day.

Some herd mentality also goes into it. The more your neighbors are putting up yard signs, the more you might be pursuaded to vote for candidate X. After all, folks choose to live around those that they perceive to be like them. If people you like and respect are voting for candidate X, it may be a good choice for you. By showing support for a candidate, it may encourage friends and neighbors to ask you about that candidate.

When you get into major elections they are probably more like Coke and Pepsi advertising than anything else. You do it because its sort of expected. And people want to show their support as much as they would wear a Yankees or Red Sox jersey. I know during the last election there was so much demand from people for signs of both Bush and Kerry that the campaign offices were running out daily and limiting the number you could take when they were in.

[Mesquite-oh]

Maybe it would help the discussion to come up with an example (Please don’t get angry with me Andrew, I am just a guy posting to a message board).

Suppose there were two candidates for the local tax assessor/ collector. One was named Jill Carter and the other was named Steve Morgan. They spent the same amount of money on tv, radio, and direct mail advertising. However, Jill Carter spent $1000 plastering certain parts of the city with bright red signs that had her name and maybe a catchy slogan (“Jill Carter Works Harder”). I drive by 100 of her signs on my way to work. Steve Morgan elects not to go that route.

When Steve Morgan’s tv ad comes on, I keep on reading the paper, not really paying attention, it does not even register. When Jill Carter’s ad comes on, I look up for a few seconds and notice that she is a trustworthy lady in a power suit and glasses. I think that she looks like an accountant or something. I go back to reading my paper.

When Steve Morgan’s radio ad comes on, I keep on talking to my friend without listening. When Jill Carter’s radio ad comes on with the slogan, I listen for a few seconds and get the words “integrity” and “experience.” I also note that she has a nice voice. I go back to my conversation.

When the direct mail comes, I look over Steve Morgan’s flyer. He seems like a nice enough guy, it quickly goes into the trash. I also throw Jill Carter’s in the trash, but she seems more familiar to me, I read her stuff for just a few seconds more.

Election day comes, I am looking over the 30 items on the ballot. I recognize Jill Carter’s name, I recognize it easily. I remember her slogan. I remember what she looks like, I know her voice, I remember “integrity and experience”, I remember reading her flyer for a few seconds…she gets my vote.

In this particular example, seeing her sign a 100 times a day led to name recognition which lead for me being more attentive to her message, which led me to vote for her. So it might be a little more complicated than saying “Americans vote JUST BECAUSE of how many times they’ve seen or heard the name of a candidate, which is how ads get us to BUY CERTAIN BRANDS OF PRODUCTS OVER ANOTHER!!” But I think that it is easy to make a parallel between political ads and ads to buy a Toyota Corolla.

[Tim_T-Bonham.net]

@andrewdt85

By ‘the rest’, I should have clarified- I mean the ones that you see that AREN’T put up by home or business owners to show support, but are put there by campaigners to bombard you with the name many times, like on road dividers- you see the candidate’s sign dozens of times in a row as you drive along.

Here in Minnesota, those signs on public property are illegal. They will be removed by the highway department, and they will bill the candidate for the removal.

Also, you mentioned signs outside polling places. Those too are illegal here. All signs, pollsters, campaigners, etc. must be at least 100 feet away from the polling place. Sometimes people who live in a house just across from a polling place have to remove or cover the lawn signs they have put up in their own front lawn!

[petalpusher]

Political lawn signs make a great mischief night prank. Collect all you can in a secret covert op. Plaster said signs all over neighbor’s yard. More harmless than eggs, tp or soaped up windows, but not as fun as my brother’s trick of flaming bags of dog poop.

[Johanna]

Just the other day, Election Day, I was driving in my town and saw a meta-sign. A sign about the signs, posted over a local bipartisan political sign node by the road. It said:

“THIS IS AMERICA.
DON’T REMOVE THE SIGNS.”

A simple plea for responsible civic behavior, which should be a no-brainer for anyone regardless of party who likes a functioning democracy. But it’s pitiful that it was necessary to remind people of this.

I bet it was the Republicans’ fault.

[muttrox]

Perhaps there are those who believe proper civic behavior is not to bombard advertising at everyone all the time, political or otherwise.

Interesting that you think these really add to a functioning democracy. I’ve only skimmed this thread, but I don’t see a lot of information being imparted by these signs about positions and platforms (the area with color-coded candidates is an exception.) Yelling your candidates name may or may not be effective (that seems to be the OP’s question once you strip out the attittude), but how does it keep a functioning democracy?

[Johanna]

WTF, dude, yelling your candidate’s name is the fun part of democracy. It’s really kind of outdated and corny, like fireworks on the 4th of July, but it’s still fun.

[muttrox]

Puts the “fun” into a function democracy, eh?

[muttrox]

functioning, functioning. Darn it, ruined my own quip.

[thirdname]

@Johanna

“THIS IS AMERICA.
DON’T REMOVE THE SIGNS.”

Just for the record we didn’t collect our kindling until after the elections. But then, remove them we did and with gusto.

[Exapno_Mapcase]

andrewdt85 has kindly posted a pit thread to explain to the rest of us why our responses to his OP and subsequent posts in this thread were more than sufficient to answer his question and that we shouldn’t waste our time and effort to do so again.

I agree with that last part, for the record.

[Tim_T-Bonham.net]

@petalpusher

Political lawn signs make a great mischief night prank. Collect all you can in a secret covert op. Plaster said signs all over neighbor’s yard. More harmless than eggs, tp or soaped up windows, but not as fun as my brother’s trick of flaming bags of dog poop.

Moderator: I thought our rules forbid advocating illegal activity (like this suggested theft) on these boards.

[Elendil_s_Heir]

It’s been said that 90% of any campaign activity is wasted effort, and only 10% will actually have any impact on the populace or help you win votes. But you never know which 10%… hence the blizzard of campaign signs every November. Can’t hurt, might help, and at least gets your name out there.