A Different Spin on What Everyone Hates

Five months ago I wrote a post on LinkedIn, along with this image:

If these popped up in your garden, you would call them weeds.

That’s what political signs are these days. Nobody decides who to vote for based on a yard sign, as far as I can tell. And campaigns litter the sidewalks outside polling places with these advertisements so you’ll remember the name of their candidate on the way in.

Who you choose to represent you should be based on what they stand for. What you know about them. How you feel about that individual as a person. Not based on their signs—which are basically all the same anyway.

With respect to my fellow candidates and friends referenced above—many of whom got past their primary and are on the ballot with me this November—these signs stink. They clutter up the landscape. They give no information beyond name and party affiliation. They were bought with money from donors and they will hit the trash bin in a few weeks.

I know, because after the primary I rescued a bunch of signs from the landfill. And a few weeks back, a bunch of campaign volunteers got together and we gave these old signs new life.

Like the signs themselves, all the materials for this painting project were donated. What you’re looking at was made from used brushes and leftover paint from various home renovation projects. And that also gave us the space for some clever sayings. Keep an eye out for these across the district.

Signs won’t make much of an impact in this (or any election) [1]. They are part of the landscape of the campaign season. But doing things different—that may be the most important message of all.

If you would like to get a pre-made sign, or make a sign of your own to help out our campaign, you can fill out this form here to request one. Thank you!

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[1] https://theconversation.com/why-campaigns-have-a-love-hate-relationship-with-their-signs-190403