Sign, Sign, Everywhere A Sign?

[Jen the Michigander]

Today I rode my bike through several suburban Detroit communities, all of them located in southeastern Oakland County. I kept looking around for Obama or McCain signs, and here's what I saw...

HUNTINGTON WOODS
*Population: Upper-middle class, mostly white, heavily Jewish
*Big, beautiful homes. Big, beautiful trees.
*Quite a few Obama signs, but not as many as I would expect, given that this is a very liberal area with lots of politically active people
*Only one or two McCain signs
*Interestingly, I passed by at least a half-dozen houses that had signs for other Democratic candidates, but none for Obama/Biden

ROYAL OAK (Neighborhoods closest to downtown)
*Population: Middle to upper-middle class, mostly white, very yuppie, hip & trendy creative class types mixed in with old people who've lived there for decades, if not generations.
*Big, old houses that have been fixed up. Big, beautiful trees.
*This area is Ground Zero for Obamabots. Obama signs are as plentiful here as swastikas were in Nazi Germany. :eek:
*A sprinkling of McCain signs on the lawns of the bravest of souls.

ROYAL OAK (farther east of downtown)
*Population: Middle class, some working class, mostly white, lots of senior citizens. This area has not been gentrified like the neighborhoods closer to downtown.
*Aluminum bungalows built after WW2. Big, beautiful trees.
*Not many political signs. There are more Obamas than McCains, but I was happy to see two McCain signs on the very same block where I grew up. :)

FERNDALE (I was mostly on the west side, south of downtown)
*Population: Middle class & working class, majority white with a sizable African American population, the heart of metro Detroit's gay community is here. Creative class types who don't have enough $$ to live in Royal Oak. Lots of senior citizens.
*Older homes dating back to the 1920s. Some are big and beautiful, some are smaller. Some areas have a lot of post-WW2 aluminum bungalows. Big, beautiful trees.
*I expected to see many Obama signs here, but there were only a few. One McCain sign. Again, I saw some signs for other Democratic candidates on lawns where there was no Obama sign.

OAK PARK (eastern section)
*Population: Middle class & working class, mostly African-American, some immigrants from the Middle East, some Jewish (but most of them moved away in the 1980s and 1990s).
*Ranch homes from the 1950s. Medium-sized trees. There are a few blocks with larger, older homes and big, beautiful trees.
*A handful of Obama signs in front of the bigger, older homes. Otherwise, nothing, especially south of 9 Mile Road (which is nearly all African-American). That came as a surprise.

ROYAL OAK TOWNSHIP
*Population: Working class & poor. Over 90 percent African-American.
*Small, brick houses built in the 1940s and 1950s. Some are rundown, but most appeared to be occupied. Small and medium-sized trees.
*One Obama sign. No McCains.

Of course, I didn't ride down every block in every single one of these communities. But I felt I got a good sample. Overall, it looks like the latte liberals are very pro-Obama, but everyone else isn't that into him, not even the African-Americans. Next time, I'll travel eastward into the more heavily blue collar areas and see what I can find there.

Is there anyone in another part of Michigan or in another state who would like to report on the signage in your area?

[Amy Dugan]

the very RED counties of Hamilton, Butler and Warren in SW OH i only see Obama signs and bumper stickers

[xj550]

I live in a VERY VERY red county of Ohio. I do not see many McCain signs. I saw about 4 Obama signs

I won't put any bumper sticker on my car either. I work/shop in a VERY VERY blue city and I do not want my car keyed.

I am wondering if fear has anything to do with it.

[Charlie Brown]

I live in a small community of 1,200 and we are seeing more Mccain signs...One being on my lawn of corse...;) I live on a busy highway..great location...:D

[Optixmom]

I was at Nazareth College (Rochester, NY) today at their music department and there were some cars in the parking lot with O stickers on them. I left the school and drove through a suburban area surrounding it and saw 5 houses with McCain signs in the yard surrounding 1 house with an Obama sign. It made me laugh out loud! I wanted to go buy the most beautiful flowers and place them gently by all of the McCain signs to thank those neighbors for their support.

During the primaries there were Hillary signs everywhere and very very few Obama signs. Now I see about 3-5% of the homes with Obama signs where there were at least 25% of the homes in January with Hillary signs. I would bet that a large majority of the Hillary homes are going for McCain but are not bold enough to put a sign in their yard.

[sadie]

In San Diego's Hillcrest area (heart of SD's gay community), mostly Obama bumper stickers...saw a few Obama signs in condo windows. Same with downtown. More McCain signage in the suburbs (northern SD county), especially around Camp Pendleton.

My back window, where my McCain-Palin and NObama stickers are prominantly displayed, was damaged today...I think my car alarm kept the crazy/ies from completely bashing in my window :mad:

[NSTYLE77]

Republicans usually do not wear their political affiliations on there sleeve. This probably explains why you do not see Mccain signs.
I would never put a mccain sticker on my car for 2 reasons. 1) Bumper stickers are a b**** to remove; 2) I do not want my car vandalized.

[VotingHillary]

I haven't seen many signs here in SW Pennsylvania, but this was Hillary country all the way. I think the lack of signs is two-fold. Obama supporters starting to get buyers remorse and McCain supporters afraid of damage to their property.

But most of all, I think there is voter fatigue. I think many Americans are waking up to the fact that we are going to have another 4 years without the best person running the country.

We will have to wait until 2012.

[Kbentleyis]

Sadie: I'd take the signs down. It's not worth the damage you might incur on house and car.

[VotingHillary]

Sadie: I'd take the signs down. It's not worth the damage you might incur on house and car.

And this best sums up this election...fear, intimidation and thuggery. We can stop it all in November.

[Arctic907]

I have seen only one O sign in my neighborhood. No Mac signs. However, there are lots of signs for Republican candidates in the local elections we are having.

[xj550]

I have seen only one O sign in my neighborhood. No Mac signs. However, there are lots of signs for Republican candidates in the local elections we are having.

That is what I am seeing here too.

[sadie]

Sadie: I'd take the signs down. It's not worth the damage you might incur on house and car.

They're already out of my windows. They also damaged my front window, where my old Clear Channel parking sticker is (the criminal was apparently not only pro-Obama, but also very anti-corporation). It just pisses me off that I'm not entitled to express my opinion without the fear of damage to my property...apparently what we can expect if BO manages to make it to the White House.

[Dendy]

With this race thing going on I can’t blame most people for not putting any signs out.
4 Years ago my neighborhood in NJ was covered in signs, now I don’t see any…not even one.

[abigailadams]

I can't see McCain supporters putting up signs. They'd be afraid of being labeled racist (for good reason, I mean if Bill Clinton can be accused of racism what does that tell you?).

[Calico]

Over the weekend, so far, I have seen while visiting a nearby town yesterday:

1 McCain/Palin yard sign

1 Woman wearing a McCain/Palin, sticker on her jacket. This same woman was seen with a Hillary pin in February. Perhaps, she is a Puma! :)

1 Group of Warner/Obama/Boucher signs on the side of the highway

1 Car from Tennessee with a McCain window sticker

Numerous Warner and Boucher yard signs in Virginia. And, numerous local election billboards, yard signs, etc. in both WV and VA. But, Obama signage seems to be missing in action. :)

I have never been so observant of signs in past elections! :D

[ConservativeChick]

Good thread, yesterday I took a side-road to get home that I don't normally travel and looked for signs. Small county in Ohio... ONE Obama/Biden sign which I vocally said "BOO!" to, in my car ;) :p, several McCain including specifically:

"Another Family For McCain"

"Women for McCain"

"Democrats for McCain"

and several regular McCain/Palin signs... I was proud!! :D

[xj550]

Good thread, yesterday I took a side-road to get home that I don't normally travel and looked for signs. Small county in Ohio... ONE Obama/Biden sign which I vocally said "BOO!" to, in my car ;) :p, several McCain including specifically:

"Another Family For McCain"

"Women for McCain"

"Democrats for McCain"

and several regular McCain/Palin signs... I was proud!! :D

I work in Franklin County so you can see why I do not want a McCain bumber sticker.

[JamieKuuipo]

great Tours !!!!!!!

[Mrsawd]

McCain sign are coming up more and more every day !


3 Countys in Pa

[Horizon]

I am seeing equal signs for O and McCain.But MANY more down ticket Repub signs then Dem.

I never in a million years thought that would make me happy!:D:o:rolleyes:

[Lynne]

I work in Obamaland in the Dallas downtown area. On the back of my new car window I wrote "NOBAMA Selected Not Elected". So far no problem with my car but I expect it. I will not back down. However, when I communte to work I get more thumbs up and just a few fingers. I have an hour communte into Dallas and I do not see Obama stickers. A few McCain. Bumper stickers don't seem to be big in this area.

[Laura Cereta]

I live in a county with over one million people and we literally have 17 more registered Democrats than Republicans-- a total swing part of a swing state. I'm in North county, though, which is the wealthiest part. I've only seen one BO sign around and many McCain signs. (My neighbors don't want their taxes raised!) BO doesn't even have an office set up in North county. Further south, there are a few Obama signs here and there but it's not overwhelming. The bumper stickers are another story, however; they're everywhere.

[Skylight]

I live in a southeastern Ohio community. I haven't seen one Obama yard sign, but, numerous McCain/Palin signs are starting to spring up. I did happen to see an Obama bumper sticker on one car. But, this is traditionally a very strong Republican stronghold, so this makes sense to me.

I think people are afraid to put their signs out, and that is sad. Yep, Obama is the one we need in the WH, when average Americans are afraid to execise their freedoms afforded by the Constitution. This is sad and scary!

[Pepper]

Here in my neighborhood in Tulsa, there is one other McCain sign (besides mine, which has Hillary stickers on it). There was one Obama sign in a yard around the corner but they took it down, I assume because they are selling their house and didn't want potential buyers to be scared off:)
Saw an BHO sticker on an elderly lady's car at Walmart. I just gave my parents a McCain sign and 2 bumper stickers.
On our way home from Denver, on the highway, we saw a car with a McCain sign. We showed them a Hillary sign and gave them a thumbs up. They pulled up next to us and showed us a napkin that had the words, "Hillary Kills Babies". I wrote on the back of a white sign and showed it to them through the car window, "No, Obama does. We are voting McCain". They pulled up next to us again and gave us the "raised hands", "thumbs up" stuff. When they showed that message about Hillary, I wanted to kick their a**;)

[ConservativeChick]

I work in Franklin County so you can see why I do not want a McCain bumber sticker.

I work in Franklin too! :eek: It's a drive for me but there are better jobs there, my town doesn't have much work that makes a very good wage.

I feel you there, I don't have a sticker on my car either. I worked with a girl that had a conservative sticker on her car a few years back and got her convertable top torn by someone. Folks in Franklin co can be hateful :eek::eek:!!

[MS BLUEGRASS]

I live in Mid-Michigan in what is known as the Tri-Cities...Midland, Bay City, Saginaw. I live in Bay City and worked in Midland for 32 years, so one gets a pretty good "feel" for the political landscape. Midland is the world headquarters for Dow Chemical and Dow Corning, so it is a big business kind of town. Although there are a lot of young professionals and highly educated people working/living in Midland, I think Midland will go for McCain as it is conservative and big-business oriented. It usually does go red.

I have seen more McCain signs in Bay City than Obama signs. There are not as many AA's in B. C. and it has a history of union participation. It is hard to say how Bay City will go.

I think Saginaw will go DEM. There is a large proportion of AA's.

I posted an article earlier from the Flint Journal about the lawsuit the ACLU and a student group is bringing against the state of MI concerning voter registration practices.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in federal court in Detroit, says Michigan is too quick to remove people from voting rolls if they get driver's licenses in other states or if their voter registration cards are returned as undeliverable.
MI has really worked over the past few decades to clean up it's voter registration.
"It appears that they are challenging Michigan's Motor Voter Law -- passed in 1975 -- that later served as a model for the (1993) National Voter Registration Act," Chesney said.
I think this law suit is just an attempt by the Obama campaign to bring in ACORN and corrupt as much of the voting process as possible by working/duplicating the absentee ballots, fraudulently submitting deceased people's names, minor children's names, dog's names etc.

"With Michigan set to be one of the most important battleground states in this election and turnout predicted to be the highest in state history, we are going to do everything we can to make sure that every vote counts and that nobody is illegally purged from the voter rolls," ACLU of Michigan executive director Kary Moss said in a statement released Thursday.

Jonathan Doster of USSA said "it's just not fair to deny someone the right to vote just because they are an out-of-state student or they don't get a piece of mail."

[Bacio83]

Well seeing that Connecticut is always blue I thought I'd see more BO signs. In one predominately AA neighborhood there had been many BO signs. Today as I was driving by they were gone. My friend suggested maybe they moved, LOL but four houses? I thought maybe they called the DNC and said "wait we've changed our minds." There have been a good mix of signs overall.

[JJ4Hillary]

Maryland is starting to get more Mccain/Palin. Yesterday i saw 20 mccain bumper sticker.:eek:

[Jen the Michigander]

Good thread, yesterday I took a side-road to get home that I don't normally travel and looked for signs. Small county in Ohio... ONE Obama/Biden sign which I vocally said "BOO!" to, in my car ;) :p,

Whenever I go walking with my nieces and we pass by an Obama sign, the 6-year-old always makes this grand gesture where she wipes her forehead with the back of her hand and says, "Oh, no! We're DOOMED!"

Then the 10-year-old says her line: "Save us all!"

And I make this noise that sounds kind of like Phil Hartman when he used to do his Frankenstein routine on SNL.

BTW, I did not teach the kids to say those lines and neither did any other adults. The kids made it up themselves. The 10-year-old is very politically astute. Two years ago, she decorated her school folder with a collage of pics she'd found on the Internet and Hillary's photo was there, alongside the American Girl dolls and Sponge Bob Square Pants. She followed the primaries very closely. Sometimes she even reads this forum-- with adult supervision; she's not allowed to surf the Net by hersself. But she did watch Bill Clinton's speech at the Convention by herself, on the TV in her room.

[ConservativeChick]

Whenever I go walking with my nieces and we pass by an Obama sign, the 6-year-old always makes this grand gesture where she wipes her forehead with the back of her hand and says, "Oh, no! We're DOOMED!"

Then the 10-year-old says her line: "Save us all!"

And I make this noise that sounds kind of like Phil Hartman when he used to do his Frankenstein routine on SNL.


That is hilarious! Yea, I "BOO!" Obama signs and typically Thumbs Up and "WOOHOO Rock On McCain!" to McCain signs... I can be fun to drive with :D

[ibginnie]

Jen, I live about 20 miles outside of Traverse City. I also work at McCain HQ there. We can't give away the yard signs. People are too afraid to put them out.
However, when I make calls support for McCain, as of 5:00 pm Friday, was running around 20-1.
Northwest Michigan is McCain country!

[Andy_Licious]

In the San Joaquin Valley of California where I live, which is normally a very red portion of a very blue state. I have seen no presidential signs. I have seen a few for judgeships and such (party affiliation not an issue in these), but no O or Mac signs, stickers, etc. Closer to the election maybe, but right now none. No bumper stickers either. I don't really see bumper stickers much as someone up thread said they are hard to remove. Bumper stickers are sometimes placed in the back window, especially on pickups...probably easier to remove. Yard signs are almost totally absent in homeowners yards, but there are a few in vacant lots. These are the judgeships and local elections. No yard signs for even the local senate and assembly nor the Rep in the house, which all will be shoe ins.

My view of signs. I have never had a sign in my yard...even when I was vitally interested in an election. I have always been sort of middle of the road and in my younger years Republican and now Democrat. I don't believe signs sway anyone. I think they may do the opposite. At business entities a sign may just lose you some business.

I suggested (in a letter to the editor) some years back that the winner of each election use his workers to clean up all the leftover signs regarding his own election. They never too my suggestion to heart, and of course it's a mess after election day. City workers out in force to clean the mess up.

From years past the signs seem to get thicker closer to the election. I never did a count, but I almost believe we have more signs during the primary than during the general. Hey in California we are 'most blessed' to have two (count 'em two) primaries this year. :rolleyes: Some issues are decided during the primaries (referrendums and judgeships, local stuff) so it's important to vote every time. I think during 2000 we had quite a bit of Gore and Bush signs but most signs tend to revolve around the local elections. Maybe that's what they mean that all politics is local. ;)

[hobbitt]

Jonathan Doster of USSA said "it's just not fair to deny someone the right to vote just because they are an out-of-state student or they don't get a piece of mail."


Waaaaaaah!

Its NOT FAIR that you won't let us cheat!

[Pepper]

Waaaaaaah!

Its NOT FAIR that you won't let us cheat!

:D No kidding! How dare they not let anyone cheat in a presidential election?!

[MS BLUEGRASS]

Waaaaaaah!

Its NOT FAIR that you won't let us cheat!

I think this law suit is just an attempt by the Obama campaign to bring in ACORN and corrupt as much of the voting process as possible by working/duplicating the absentee ballots, fraudulently submitting deceased people's names, minor children's names, dog's names etc.


EXACTLY!

[lynfreedom]

Jen, I live about 20 miles outside of Traverse City. I also work at McCain HQ there. We can't give away the yard signs. People are too afraid to put them out.
However, when I make calls support for McCain, as of 5:00 pm Friday, was running around 20-1.
Northwest Michigan is McCain country!

Are you giving them free? In Tx, it was on the news at one point that there would be a charge for the signs.

Also, I had received an email from BO's camp that there was a shortage of signs but more are coming...hopefully that is not th reason you are not seeing them.

[MS BLUEGRASS]

Jen, I live about 20 miles outside of Traverse City. I also work at McCain HQ there. We can't give away the yard signs. People are too afraid to put them out.
However, when I make calls support for McCain, as of 5:00 pm Friday, was running around 20-1.
Northwest Michigan is McCain country!

This fear of retaliation is REAL! As I stated before, I live in Bay City, and when I went to KY to campaign for Hillary in May, I bought back my "Kentucky for Hillary" sign and plunked it down in my front yard. It was fine for six weeks or so. We went away for a week to Maryland/DC...it was fine. We went away to Austin for a week..got back home....it was fine.

I was the only house in the city, probably the whole state of MI, with a "Kentucky for Hillary" sign. Then suddenly one day my hubby comes in the house and says, "Your Hillary sign is missing" I hopped in my car and went up and down the busy five lane highway that runs in front of my house searching for where they might have cast it off. I stopped people on the sidewalk asking them if they had seen any kids walking or on bicycles who may have had a sign.....I WAS PISSED!! I called the police to report a theft of my personal property. When they ask me the value of the sign I stated, "$250." The recorder of the conversation then says, "what was the sign made of, Ma'm?" and I say, "Plastic". He seemed somewhat confused and I said, "I drove for 10 hours to KY to get this sign, and 10 hours back to MI, I filled up my tank twice down there and twice back at $65 a pop. Yes this sign cost me $250". He says, "Well Ma'm, you can't figure it that way." I wanted to say, "and why the hell not", but I just said, "$15"!:eek::eek::eek:

I wrote a letter to the editor of the paper, but of course it was never acknowledged! I went to Ky again in July and with the help of "Reese"from the forum, I was able to get several "KY for Hillary signs" in northern KY. Upon my return to MI, as soon as I pulled in my driveway, at 10 p.m. after driving all day from KY to MI, I hopped out and plunked my sign in the front yard. Don't you know by 5 p.m. the next afternoon, someone had come into the middle of my yard and stomped my sign, bending it and making tatters of it.

I was so paranoid, I wanted to electrify another sign and put it up, but hubby said I was getting too CRAZY...that we were on our way to a lawsuit and he was thinking of having me committed. I then had the idea of attaching clear fishing line to the metal stake and running this line up and into the front entry way of the house attached to a set of Christmas bells. This, all in order to hear the culprit when he snuck on to my property and tried to mess with my sign! I just gave up, I had too many projects going to have to sit around worrying about my Hillary sign and the fiasco of the convention happened and that was that.

I do have my "Hillary" bumper sticker in the window of my sexy little black sports car. I do not worry about it getting damaged. I always park in the back forty of parking lots, and I figure there are security cameras and enough people around to witness someone vandalizing.:cool::rolleyes::p

[adventures7]

I was so paranoid, I wanted to electrify another sign and put it up, but hubby said I was getting too CRAZY...that we were on our way to a lawsuit and he was thinking of having me committed. I then had the idea of attaching clear fishing line to the metal stake and running this line up and into the front entry way of the house attached to a set of Christmas bells. This, all in order to hear the culprit when he snuck on to my property and tried to mess with my sign! I just gave up, I had too many projects going to have to sit around worrying about my Hillary sign and the fiasco of the convention happened and that was that.

I do have my "Hillary" bumper sticker in the window of my sexy little black sports car. I do not worry about it getting damaged. I always park in the back forty of parking lots, and I figure there are security cameras and enough people around to witness someone vandalizing.:cool::rolleyes::p


I am laughing my head off at the thought of you electrifying your sign.

[gaziza]

Today I rode my bike through several suburban Detroit communities, all of them located in southeastern Oakland County. I kept looking around for Obama or McCain signs, and here's what I saw...

HUNTINGTON WOODS
*Population: Upper-middle class, mostly white, heavily Jewish
*Big, beautiful homes. Big, beautiful trees.
*Quite a few Obama signs, but not as many as I would expect, given that this is a very liberal area with lots of politically active people
*Only one or two McCain signs
*Interestingly, I passed by at least a half-dozen houses that had signs for other Democratic candidates, but none for Obama/Biden

ROYAL OAK (Neighborhoods closest to downtown)
*Population: Middle to upper-middle class, mostly white, very yuppie, hip & trendy creative class types mixed in with old people who've lived there for decades, if not generations.
*Big, old houses that have been fixed up. Big, beautiful trees.
*This area is Ground Zero for Obamabots. Obama signs are as plentiful here as swastikas were in Nazi Germany. :eek:
*A sprinkling of McCain signs on the lawns of the bravest of souls.

ROYAL OAK (farther east of downtown)
*Population: Middle class, some working class, mostly white, lots of senior citizens. This area has not been gentrified like the neighborhoods closer to downtown.
*Aluminum bungalows built after WW2. Big, beautiful trees.
*Not many political signs. There are more Obamas than McCains, but I was happy to see two McCain signs on the very same block where I grew up. :)


I did a similar ride yesterday, in HW there are probably five Obama signs on my parents block, including a weird black one with green writing that says:

Yes. Obama.
We. For.
Can. President.

It is hardly legible. I noticed a bunch of Obama-Biden signs, which must be new. The big change from past elections is the few McCain signs, I think there were close to zero Bush signs in the past. I did see a Women for McCain sign on one of the streets off of Woodward. My dad tells me there is a Hillary Supporter for McCain sign somewhere in the city. I am going to try to find it today.

One of my friends grew up in north Oak Park (Berkley Schools area), and he told me the other day that the orthodox Jews in his mom's neighborhood had McCain signs, but switched them to Obama. He thinks because of Palin. He is not a reliable source at all, so I wouldn't read much into that (the sign changing observation or the reasoning).

South Madison Heights has few signs, but they are probably 50-50 McCain and Obama.

I think on my ride through Royal Oak I only noticed Obama signs, but honestly I think republicans are not big on lawn signs.

[foxyladi]

I live in a VERY VERY red county of Ohio. I do not see many McCain signs. I saw about 4 Obama signs

I won't put any bumper sticker on my car either. I work/shop in a VERY VERY blue city and I do not want my car keyed.

I am wondering if fear has anything to do with it.

thats why i am afraid to put one on mine
its not worth the garage bill
the important thing is VOTE

[Christines]

Thanks for the interesting report. Here in Southern CA in the area around me I have seen a few McCain signs, no Obama signs, and one Obama sticker. Not like years in the past. I don't know why.

[Lodi]

I am laughing my head off at the thought of you electrifying your sign.

And I am salivating at the thought of it! Those bastards deserve to be shocked into reality!!!

P.S. This is a great thread! Thanks, Jen the Michigander for starting it and for your great report and story about your nieces.

[Isis46]

Today I rode my bike through several suburban Detroit communities, all of them located in southeastern Oakland County. I kept looking around for Obama or McCain signs, and here's what I saw..

FERNDALE (I was mostly on the west side, south of downtown)
*Population: Middle class & working class, majority white with a sizable African American population, the heart of metro Detroit's gay community is here. Creative class types who don't have enough $$ to live in Royal Oak. Lots of senior citizens.
*Older homes dating back to the 1920s. Some are big and beautiful, some are smaller. Some areas have a lot of post-WW2 aluminum bungalows. Big, beautiful trees.
*I expected to see many Obama signs here, but there were only a few. One McCain sign. Again, I saw some signs for other Democratic candidates on lawns where there was no Obama sign.

Is there anyone in another part of Michigan or in another state who would like to report on the signage in your area?


My mom lives in Ferndale. There are only three ways she would vote Obama:

* No way.
* No way in hell.
* No damned way.

She has 4 gal pals, all in their late 60's/early 70's. Three feel the same way she does, and one is on the fence.

None of them feel comfortable showing obvious McCain support, for fear of vandalism in the Detroit Metro area.

[Isis46]

Thanks for the interesting report. Here in Southern CA in the area around me I have seen a few McCain signs, no Obama signs, and one Obama sticker. Not like years in the past. I don't know why.

If one of those cars you see is a white Civic with McCain Palin 2008/ and Maverick/Barracuda on it, being friven by a bottle blonde, that would be me. :D

Wave and say "hi"!

[CT-Hilltopper]

Well seeing that Connecticut is always blue I thought I'd see more BO signs. In one predominately AA neighborhood there had been many BO signs. Today as I was driving by they were gone. My friend suggested maybe they moved, LOL but four houses? I thought maybe they called the DNC and said "wait we've changed our minds." There have been a good mix of signs overall.

In my area, there aren't many signs at all. Bumper stickers either.

I saw a McCain sign in front of a house in Newtown last weekend, when we were driving to a picnic. We drove past one in Bethel too. We didn't see any signs for Obama.

We were driving behind one SUV near Westport that had an Obama sticker on the back, It's the only car we saw with a sticker on it the whole trip. I was "inadvertently" driving about an inch off it's back bumper until my husband brought that to my attention. ;)

[Amy Dugan]

a couple of cars in my church (catholic) parking lot had Obama stickers

[Pepper]

After reading through everyone's posts, I am seeing a correlation going on here. I havent' seen much of either (signs/stickers) in my city of 350,000. What is going on?
I stated above that I gave my parents a Mc yard sign. They will put it up but they said they are scared their house/sign will be egged or messed up in some way(I know, egged?). I told them whatever as OK is a totally red state, but why are they even scared??? They are very conservative Republicans.
Thoughts?

[RachachaSharon]

I was at Nazareth College (Rochester, NY) today at their music department and there were some cars in the parking lot with O stickers on them. I left the school and drove through a suburban area surrounding it and saw 5 houses with McCain signs in the yard surrounding 1 house with an Obama sign. It made me laugh out loud! I wanted to go buy the most beautiful flowers and place them gently by all of the McCain signs to thank those neighbors for their support.

During the primaries there were Hillary signs everywhere and very very few Obama signs. Now I see about 3-5% of the homes with Obama signs where there were at least 25% of the homes in January with Hillary signs. I would bet that a large majority of the Hillary homes are going for McCain but are not bold enough to put a sign in their yard.

In my area of the county, which is heavily Republican, the only signs I've seen thus far are for the local elections. An occasional bumper sticker. With an election that is creating this much emotion, I wonder if people are leery of committing themselves publicly.

[Horizon]

I get what your point is.In the last two elections,every other house had a sign.Seriously,EVERY OTHER HOUSE!! And the bumper stickers!! Do you know I see more Kerry/Edwards than McCain or Obama? And lets talk about the Bush/Cheney ones.Still, all over.

I think people are flat scared.I still have my Hillary sign in my window.My yard is deep and I have a big,loud ass dog,so I don't worry.
But I think McCain people are afraid of what could transpire with a yard sign.
It is either fear or apathy.Either on of which is scary.

[Jen the Michigander]

This has to be the longest thread I've ever started! :)

I didn't get to go out on my bike again today, although the weather was gorgeous. I'll try again sometime this week, because there are several areas in particular that I want to check out.

I agree that a lot of McCain supporters are afraid to put out signs. We all know what kind of thuggery the Obamabots are capable of. The suburbs I described in my original post all have large populations of senior citizens, and the Bots are not known for showing respect or consideration for their elders. In other words, I wouldn't put it past 'em to trash some old lady's McCain sign and they'd probably throw in more vandalism just for the sport of it.

I'm still trying to figure out why there were so few Obama signs in the African-American neighborhoods I visited? Anyone care to guess? For my next ride, I was planning to go east and check out the white, working class suburbs like Warren and Hazel Park. But now I think I will head south of 8 Mile and check out some yards in Detroit.

[rosesnc]

Republicans usually do not wear their political affiliations on there sleeve. This probably explains why you do not see Mccain signs.
I would never put a mccain sticker on my car for 2 reasons. 1) Bumper stickers are a b**** to remove; 2) I do not want my car vandalized.

Gave up on bumper stickers after an incident over an Army bumper sticker. I had it because my son gave it to me and I am very proud of his work as a combat medic.

It is a shame that people are afraid to express themselves with signs and stickers for fear of vandalism. Kind of speaks to tolerance doesn't it?

[Bacio83]

Well I just heard a story, I had dinner with a bunch of Portuguese Born 60 somethings who are like us moderate Dems. One man who has a daughter who ran for the Edu board in Windsor was running as a Republican. He put the signs in his front yard in Windsor. Every night someone would run over his signs. After two weeks of this, they put cement blocks next to the signs and someone threw the blocks over his fence. Finally he decided to stake out his own house and record this huge truck that drove onto his front yard. Needless to say some people are scared to place their Republican signs in a blue state like this.

I told him, don't give up. He was also stating how many Dems are thinking of not voting since CT is usually always blue. I think this is the downfall, there's not many McCain campaign people if at all here. I convinced him and the room of them to go to the polls and vote no matter what. I said, "If there's 10,000 people like you that could make a difference.

There was a lot of "I'm scared of that man." Comments about BO. LOL

[Ray_of_Hope]

Maryland is starting to get more Mccain/Palin. Yesterday i saw 20 mccain bumper sticker.:eek:

Which part of Maryland are you from? In this part of Maryland, it's Obama-central. I didn't see any McCain/Palin signs (but oddly saw a couple of Ron Paul signs) :(.

[Ellen McKinley]

Obama signs everywhere here in Des Moines, Ia. My street is practically "the twilight zone"...

-Ellen McKinley

[ragdoll]

I live in south central Illinois. I have yet to see any yard signs in my area. While motorcyle riding a month ago, I saw two Obama yard signs in a town several miles from my town. I have seen 2 Obama stickers on cars while driving interstate 70 and a semi with nobama written in the dirt on the back of the truck. We have a McCain sign on our front door that we got at a rally. Last night, a guy we know from another town called and said that he had seen it while driving by, and wanted to know why we didn't have it in the yard and where he could get a yard sign. We told him it was a paper sign not meant for the outside. I guess because this is considered Obamas state, we are having trouble finding any Republican campaign offices anywhere close.

I too, believe that it is fear that is stopping people from advertizing their political preferences.

[Bubbles]

Well, I've got the suburbs just north of you covered. ;)

I'm in the Rochester/Rochester Hills area (demographics, http://www.city-data.com/city/Rochester-Hills-Michigan.html)... and while there are very few signs up here, I've seen a few Obama ones that have been out for the past few months -- but just in the past few weeks, I've seen about 5 McCain signs pop up!

I work in the Birmingham area (demographics, http://www.city-data.com/city/Birmingham-Michigan.html), and I've seen about 2 Obama signs down there, and more & more McCain signs within the past few weeks as well. I drive past at least 7-8 McCain signs on my 10 mile trip down Adams to get to Birmingham.

Compared to other areas of the country I've lived in (mostly Illinois) -- it doesn't seem like yard signs are very popular around here. At least not this election year...

[BooskerD]

I haven't seen any McCain signs in my neighborhood, only Obama. To be honest, I won't put a McCain sign up in my yard, because I'm certain my house would be vandalized and the sign removed. I know the couple across the street from me are republicans, and they have no signs out this year.

[Jen the Michigander]

Well, I've got the suburbs just north of you covered. ;)

I'm in the Rochester/Rochester Hills area (demographics, http://www.city-data.com/city/Rochester-Hills-Michigan.html)... and while there are very few signs up here, I've seen a few Obama ones that have been out for the past few months -- but just in the past few weeks, I've seen about 5 McCain signs pop up!

I work in the Birmingham area (demographics, http://www.city-data.com/city/Birmingham-Michigan.html), and I've seen about 2 Obama signs down there, and more & more McCain signs within the past few weeks as well. I drive past at least 7-8 McCain signs on my 10 mile trip down Adams to get to Birmingham.

Thanks, I kind of guessed there would be more McCain signs in the northern parts of Oakland County. It's more Republican than the southeastern corner.

BTW, did you see the quote from L. Brooks Patterson where he said he would rather clean the grout in his bathtub than listen to an Obama speech? :D
(For those who are not from around here, Patterson is an outspoken Republican politician, kind of like our own local version of Newt Gingrich.)

[Bloomer]

Ok.....I must now confess.

I still have my Hillary sign in my front yard for the whole world to see when they drive by. Doesn't matter that I live on a gravel road or not, it's there for whoever drives by. I also still have my Hillary lapel pin on my purse too.

I just haven't had the heart to take the sign down and I guess maybe deep down it gives me that one last little glimmer of hope that some miracle will occur and she will step in and things will once again be right with the world.

A girl can always dream you know.