What Your Political Lawn Sign Says About You

Sept. 9, 2016

Only two months remain until another important election. Soon we will be inundated with mailers, phone calls (from live people and robots), TV ads, and the most ubiquitous election imposition of them all: the yard sign.

In many ways, yard signs are the only honest weapons candidates have during their campaigns. If you see a yard sign, three things happen. First, you now know a name that will be on the ballot (which comes in handy when you show up the voting booth with no idea for whom to vote. Just pick the name you remember). Second, you can see who your neighbors are voting for and decide if you will vote the same or the opposite of them, based on the neighbor. Finally, if you already know something about the candidates, you now know something about your neighbors you didn’t before.

It’s this final point I find the most intriguing. When a person displays a yard sign, it’s a public declaration of their political views. Putting yourself out there in these angry times can be very risky. For years we lived on the road leading into the school where my wife works. She refused to display yard signs in fear of compromising her passion to be viewed as objective in the classroom. So when a person takes the leap and puts signs out, they are willing to convey something to the community. In many cases, however, what a person is trying to convey is not what the neighbors end up thinking.

As a public service to anyone considering putting up a yard sign, I present a handy guide of what you are trying to say versus what you are actually saying.