John Aden Lewis On a recent political sign spotting tour of the town, Metuchen seemed to be leaning toward Kerry/Edwards slightly more than Bush/Cheney.
With our town government in a Democratic Party headlock, with everyone from the mayor to the dogcatcher belonging to the Democratic Party, this makes sense.
But what do political yard signs really accomplish?
If you are a Bush/Cheney supporter, and several of your neighbors are displaying Kerry/Edwards signs, are you going to switch your vote?
I mean, how many Yankees bumper stickers or house flags would it take to convince a Mets fan to switch his or her allegiance?
It seems that political yard signs are a way to let your neighbors know where you stand. “These are my beliefs!” scream signs and bumper stickers, “and I want to share them with you!”
Unfortunately, I think these displays of political affiliation do more to reinforce negative stereotypes than they to do promote healthy political discourse.
From the overt displays of political allegiance on my block, my neighbors are politically mixed, yet they all seem to be pretty nice people.
But listening to the airwaves those final days before the election, you’d think that the Kerry/Edwards supporters are terrorist-hugging, tax-raising commies, while the Bush/Cheney folks are war-mongering, deficit-bulging, gun-toting smog lovers.
I suppose political yard signs make it easier to figure out which of my neighbors might have certain things I need to borrow.
Perhaps my Kerry/Edwards neighbors would be more likely to have yesterday’s New York Times, a head of organic lettuce, a shovel or guidebooks for my upcoming trip to France.
But I’d have better luck with my Bush/Cheney neighbors if I needed to borrow a six-pack of beer, a snowblower, some power tools or a rifle.
In the end, only one yard sign seems to make sense to me: “I’m Undecided. Come over for a chat.”