What bugs about my Democratic candidates

[jes06c]

I live in Arizona and I'm already starting to see the 2018 election posters and signs going up. Once again, I can't help but notice that all of the Republican posters clearly identify the candidate's party identification in bold, red, all capital letters, and usually the little red elephant logo somewhere on the sign. REPUBLICAN! Or sometimes CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICAN! Occasionally I'll even see TEA PARTY REPUBLICAN! (yes, in 2018). The Republican candidates make it very clear that, yes, we're Republicans, and damn proud of it!

Then I see the Democratic candidates signs, and unless you follow local politics, you'd never know that the person on the poster is a Democrat. More often than not, there's no party identification, no donkey logo, nothing. It really bugs me.

Maybe this is just an Arizona thing (I live in the Phoenix suburbs). To me, it sends a horrible message. On the one hand, you have these chest thumping Republicans who boldly display their party membership to the world. And then you have Democrats seem embarrassed by their party membership. Seriously, that's how it comes across to me, that they're ashamed to admit they're Democrats, that they feel like it's something they're trying to hide.

I'm cleaning out my desk drawer right now, and I just came across my collection of campaign buttons that I've collected over the years for local candidates. Unless you Googled their names, you'd never know that they were Democrats. Not even a donkey logo. Not even a letter "D" on any of them.

I've lived in Phoenix for over ten years, and it's always been like this. Every. Single. Election. I think it's a terrible idea, and I really think it sets the tone among voters that Democrats are losers. Does this happen anywhere else?

[RandySF]

1. You know what bugs me.

I spend so much (apparently wasted) time to get people here to focus on the 2018 election with 90% of other posts being complaints. I guess it's time to find a more productive forum.

[murielm99]

2. Do't go away.

Just keep pointing out the whiners and remind everyone to GOTV.

[OneBro]

3. You might consider contacting a campaign to ask about the signage.

They may have an explanation that gives you peace. Or they may all be using the same local designer and the issue has never come up. Or they may just be copying from other democratic campaign advertisements. Maybe you'll be the first to bring the issue to their attention.

My uneducated guess: Arizona is a red state, so perhaps Democrats have a better chance running as an INDIVIDUAL CANDIDATE who is a Democrat, vs. a DEMOCRAT named John Doe.

[jes06c]

4. That could be the case

Then again I moved here from an even redder state (Utah), and the signs there weren't like that. Part of the reason I posted this was common in red states, or if it's an Arizona thing.

[lunasun]

5. I'm really guessing that it's reverse of what you sometimes see here... where often

the repugs are not identifying because it's heavy dem area
And yes the Rs usually lose, it's not a purple area
I have heard Az is going slowly from red to blue (becoming purple) so maybe it's too soon for Dems to identify ... I hope you folks can get away from the super red to purple to blue by 2020

[jes06c]

7. I hope

When I moved here from Utah, I thought things would be better. I didn't know that much about the state when I moved. I knew it was a Republican state, but I assumed it was moderate Republican state. Like, Barry Goldwater Republican (how sad is it that nowadays Mr. Conservative himself is now considered a moderate). Within a few months, I realized that Arizona is almost as conservative as Utah, and in some ways more conservative.

Republicans that I've met here seem reasonable enough, when you talk to them, but they elect the most extreme Republicans imaginable. At least they have the decency to pretend to be embarrassed by Trump, but we'll see if they repeat their mistake in 2020.

You meet a lot of "independents," here, but I've noticed these so called independents almost always vote Republican, so whenever I hear someone claim to be independent, I become skeptical.

[lunasun]

8. Well not sure who your rep is but I know part of the phnx metro area has Rep Grijalva so

there are some Dem folks out there trying to move it more dem in the phnx area
https://grijalva.house.gov

[jes06c]

9. Grijalva is the man

He's my favorite member of Congress, but his district covers more of Tucson area than the Phoenix area. Tucson is a pretty cool place, it's neck and neck with Sedona for my favorite place in the state.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

6. It's reasonably common that candidates for the minority party

in a given state don't put party affiliation on their signs so that underinformed voters won't simply dismiss them for belonging to the "wrong" party.

Here in very Democratic New Mexico Republican candidates often don't put that on their signage.