The leaves are falling, Halloween decorations are starting to appear and the election season is heating up with the predictable battle over campaign signs.
Revere first-time City Council candidate Wayne Rose waded right into the prickly topic of campaign sign placement by blanketing Revere Housing Authority property with 40 signs touting his candidacy. In about as much time as it takes to say “pumpkin latte, please,” Rose found the verbal permission he received to set up signs rescinded.
To his credit, Authority Executive Director James Milinazzo acknowledged Rose received verbal permission to put up the signs and said the decision was rescinded after public housing officials received “push back” from state officials.
Milinazzo said state rules only allow political signs to be displayed in a public housing tenant’s apartment windows. But Milinazzo also said he inquired about state rules concerning political signs after receiving complaints from other candidates for city office in Revere.
That statement is revealing because it reinforces the truth about political signs: Strong opinions about them are typically held by candidates who want to get a leg up on the opposition. Milinazzo’s response to Rose now places the Authority in the position to reject any and all political signs placed on Authority property unless they are displayed in tenant’s windows.
That is going to be a hard line to hold as the Nov. 7 final election draws nearer.
With mobile communication technology changing and speeding up the world, political signs seem like a throwback to elections from another century. Splashing a candidate’s name on a board in bright colors and hoping it sticks in a voter’s brain seems like a clumsy way to campaign in an age of instant messaging and websites that look as slick as Hollywood movies.
Campaign roof racks have gone the way of painting a candidate’s name on the side of a cow and letting it graze in field next to a well-traveled road. Bumper stickers are still around, but it’s hard not to look at one and think, A) It’s on the candidate’s car or, B) It belongs to someone over 50.
Somehow political signs feel like the last hurrah of an almost-bygone political era soon to be replaced with sleek smartphone campaigns that provide multimedia images of candidates and instantly update a candidate’s position on issues or views on an emerging controversy.
But don’t count out the poor political sign too soon. Pieces of cardboard stuck on wood sticks and plunked in front lawns or on medians still have that cunning ability to make a candidate look popular. It’s hard not to drive by 10 signs advocating for the same politician and not conclude the candidate enjoys a groundswell of support from people willing to temporarily plant a campaign sign next to their elm tree.
The good news is political signs eventually disappear along with all those leaves to be replaced by Christmas decorations and snow. But their season is upon us now and the best a voter can do is view signs as encouraging evidence that democracy is alive and thriving.
