Getting Worked Up Over Political Yard Signs

In San Anselmo, signs signifying the election campaign for town council, the Ross Valley School Board, and the Tam High School District’s Measure B parcel tax, have begun appearing with greater frequency.  Like the end of baseball season, darkness at 5:30 p.m., and a slight chill in the air, the cropping up of political yard signs throughout town is a sure sign of the impending fall. 

Most people drive or walk by such signs with nary a second thought.  “I have no idea what Measure B is,” or “When did we elect Ford Greene mayor?” are probably some of the thoughts crossing the minds of many potential voters. 

But does anyone really vote for a candidate because they like their yard signs, or because they notice their yard sign at a key intersection?  It’s doubtful.  Yard signs likely have only a marginal impact on the overall vote total for a particular candidate.  Political signs do inform voters that an election is approaching, and thus may slightly increase voter turnout.  A large number of signs for a particular candidate may also create the impression that the candidate has an army of support behind him or her, thereby creating a “bandwagon” effect for that candidate.

Yet, signs likely have little actual impact on the overall vote totals for a candidate.  Most people decide how to vote based on who they might know, or which candidate best fits with their values, or which seems the most competent to fulfill the public service role being sought.

But don’t tell the candidates that.  The sport of identifying prime locations for yard signs, and the placement of them throughout town, are a HUGE DEAL to candidates, who often spend (or waste) countless hours worrying about their yard signs.

The first time I had direct involvement with political yard signs was shortly after graduating from college when I worked as the Iowa state field director for Michael Dukakis in 1988 (hey, no Dukakis jokes, Iowa was one of 8 states he carried that year!).  Two of our most important supporters in Des Moines were experienced political hands who had been through countless Iowa campaigns.  I remember my first meeting with both.  I had expected to discuss political strategy, how to recruit key organizers, where to place our resources, how to organize thousands of volunteers to man phone banks throughout the state, etc.  Instead, these gentlemen wanted to talk about political yard signs.  They were convinced that if we could merely blanket the state with Dukakis for President signs, we’d all be sipping ouzo and eating baklava in the White House.  (While this strategy may have worked in Iowa, it may be why we lost the other 42 states).

People go absolutely crazy over political yard signs.  When I ran for San Anselmo town council in 2009 a friend designed the graphics on my sign, and he indicated that it would look better if it was smaller than the typical sign.  After my initial distribution of signs, one of my other good friends went ballistic and emailed me to basically tell me that I had signed my political death warrant.  He felt that my signs were too small, that only someone with bionic vision could actually read the text, and that I should just junk all of them and start over.  Fortunately I was able to overcome the smallness of my signs.

Candidates frequently fight like cats and dogs over key yard sign locations, like along Butterfield, Sir Francis Drake, or Saunders, or San Francisco Boulevard.  (If you live on one of these streets and the candidates spend hours of time empathetically listening to your complaints about the pothole in front of your street, I’m sure that they are drawn to your winning personality and cogent analysis, but there also might be an ulterior motive in play).  Indeed, I had a resident tell me they were displaying a particular candidate’s sign in their front yard only because they were afraid of offending that candidate, a neighbor they actually could not stand.

Like clockwork, a “scandal” (so small it is only known to the candidates and their closest friends) always erupts where one side accuses the other of “stealing” their signs.  In 2009, one of my competitors called me at home accusing me or my supporters of stealing his signs.  (Apparently I had whipped my zealous supporters into such a frenzy of support that they resorted to stealing my opponent's signs).  I wasn’t at home to get his call, however, because I had been called down to the San Anselmo Police Department to retrieve about two dozen of my trashed signs that had been found in a culvert.  Worrying about the “Great Yard Sign Thefts of 2009” consumed about 2 days of angst among a half-dozen people.  In recent election cycles candidates for sanitary and water boards were also accused of stealing the signs of a competitor.  You know things are bad when someone resorts to dirty tricks to gain a seat on a sanitary board!

So, what’s my point?  Should we just save hundreds of trees and forget about putting up political yard signs during the next election?  Well, maybe, but I doubt that’s going to happen.  The sport of political signage is an old tradition that is not easily broken.  Instead, what I’d say to the candidates is, take a deep breath and don’t sweat the small stuff—and yard signs are truly the small stuff.  Voters are interested in what you stand for, whether you are the right person to perform the position in a competent and thoughtful manner, and whether you share their values and outlook.  In other words, you can have all the signs in the world proudly displayed on every street corner, but you won’t win unless you give people a reason to vote for you.