Enthusiasm deficit? We pity the sign printers. Well all but one.
Would party operatives have thought that mid October was a good target date for substantial penetration of the political subdivisions with yard signs back in the day when “the election” was largely held the first Tuesday of November? That is the time-frame equivalent of what we are in now as we approach the day early voting begins in Iowa, three weeks from now.
Driving around over the last few days doing various errands and sightseeing we noticed very few yard signs showing support for candidates, Republican or Democrat. Given the emphasis the parties place on early voting one would think there would be memos out there from both parties encouraging candidates to have their yard signs in place well before the start. We do not believe we are far off to suggest that we saw ten times the yard signs in place by now in previous election cycles, including non-presidential years.
To double check our impression that there is a dearth of yard signs from both parties we drove some main thoroughfares Wednesday evening in Davenport and took note of the candidates on display. What we found was that neither party has any penetration to speak of on those thoroughfares.
We drove the length of Locust street within Davenport’s city limits (Utah Avenue to Bettendorf’s Middle Road). Around about Locust and Emerald in the far western section of the street there were two large Branstad signs within a half block (same lot?) of one another and one Paustian for Statehouse sign. No Democrat signs were to be seen. Not until approximately Locust and Leclaire did we see any other political signs were we took note of a small Thede for Statehouse yard sign. That is about three and one half miles of well-traveled Central Davenport real estate.
Cruising on, it was not until approximately Kenwood and Locust that we saw another Republican sign, (a large Branstad) a distance of over a mile and a half. So on this major east/west Davenport thoroughfare, with scads of residences, there were three of four lots with political signs.
Proceeding to bore you with more details to highlight our methodical ways, we checked out the length of Division Street from W. Kimberly to Rockingham Road. There were no political signs. None. Zip.
We cruised Kimberly Road, west and east , Utah to Middle Road and we saw only a large Branstad sign at Fairmount and W. Kimberly and a small Kinzer for Supervisor yard sign up the road for all of West Kimberly.
Not for another five to six three to four miles along Kimberly, probably Davenport’s most traveled thoroughfare, did we see another lot with a political sign, a grouping of a few Republicans near Duck Creek on East Kimberly and two neighbors vying for attention for their candidates at Kimberly and Elmore where a large Bribriesco (D) for State Senate and a large Branstad sign are viewable. (update 9-4 – there is now and probably was previously a large Branstad sign near Jersey Ridge (in a hollow) and one parallel to the frontage road near Outback restaurant – missing are the signs (Democrat and Republican )along residential fences and other familiar points along Kimberly. All in all, not bad for Branstad anyway.
We also cruised Central Park (a mostly residential avenue) East and West from Emies park to Esplanade and we found one ONE location with a a yard sign — near Farnum, a small Bribriesco sign.
And for 53rd Street from Pine to Elmore we saw three lots with signs. At Division (Branstad and Miller-Meeks), near Jersey Ridge and one in between. From Pine to Appomattox on 53rd there are many residential lots and for the length of it empty lots (Ag and commercial that have had signs in the past, for either Democrats or Republicans or both. Not so much this election so far.
What can one make of this? There were some thoroughfares in Davenport not thoroughly checked but we have been around enough in Davenport the last few days to say the dearth is everywhere. A few days ago we were in Walcott and other parts of Hwy 6 and Y40 and Blue Grass, we saw only a few Branstad large signs.
Could it be the statewide candidates are not shipping many signs to Scott County? That would explain the missing statewide candidate signs for both parties. The exception being the large Brantstad signs that are in place, his campaign being the most flush of any. But in this high-profile year with the US Senate up for grabs, where are the Ernst and Braley sign placements? Are yard signs now considered passe’?
And especially where are the state legislative and county race yard signs? They particularly rely on sign counts to establish name ID. Are yard signs passe’ for them as well? We have seen a few Bribriesco signs in Davenport and a few Thede. Where are the Smith and Ross signs? Deep in neighborhood enclaves perhaps?
Of course Scott County Republicans did not field candidates in two state representative races and one State Senate Race, so no Republican signs will be found for them nor likely many Democrat signs for those positions, there being no need to make any substantial investment to even campaign.
We definitely saw more Republican signs, especially (almost exclusively) Branstad. But over all Republican placement while relatively superior was not impressive as yet. Is it dissatisfaction with candidates, or in politics in general? Is it just late this year? Is a big flowering planned for Republicans after an upcoming weekend door knocking campaign? We will see.
People Bailing on Braley?
One campaigning related anecdote. On Tuesday early evening I was approached while working outside on West 53rd by a well met young black man carrying a backpack with a mission. He asked to interrupt me from my chore to tell me that he was an Army veteran concerned about foreign wars and energy and the environment. It was a one sentence segway to the money question . . . had I heard of Bruce Braley and would I be supporting him? I said yes and no. He said he had been “getting a lot of that today.” It could have been merely a disarming throwaway comment as he decided to move on. We bid each other good day and I thanked him for his service.
As I got back to work, I thought for a few moments about all the ironies wrapped up in his job given his staement and background. Supporting a Democrat regime that had set Blacks back economically, one that is dedicated to higher energy prices, and which has subverted the gains made for freedom and stability in the Middle East at the expense of soldiers blood. And so into the sunset we both toiled. R Mall
Note: this post has been revised for clarification and new findings to September 4th.
