A question about campaign strategies and tactics.

[LWolf]

An honest question, from someone who has never understood the culture she grew up in, has always been a Lone Wolf; me:


What, exactly, is the point of yard signs, road signs, bumper stickers, etc.?

I was wondering this while driving to work this week. Signs are everywhere. They don't really convince people to vote for who or what they see on the sign, do they? For me, they identify residences as Republican or Democrat; I don't ever see yards (or pastures, in my area,) with some Ds and some Rs represented; it's always one or the other.

Road signs don't convince me to vote for anyone or anything. Seeing a candidate's name on a sign, or a "yes" or "no" on something, doesn't sway me in any way.

Seeing bumper stickers doesn't, either. They simply tell me something about the ideology of the driver or car owner.

So why spend so much time and resources on them? What, exactly, are they accomplishing for a campaign?

I get frustrated, locally, trying to find out solid information about local candidates. I can see their signs, but searching out information about their positions and records can be a challenge.

[CanonRay]

1. Unlike you, half the electorate doesn't have a clue who is even running.

The first thing is name recognition. When they get in the booth, if they've never heard of you, they ain't gonna vote for you. Especially in small towns, people will say "I didn't know she was running", because they may KNOW the person and not know who the heck is running. Signs are big in our town, at least. Most voters are low information voters. (If they weren't, there'd be no Republican party)

[LWolf]

2. I live in a small town.

It's true that it's a lot harder to get information about local elections than when I lived in a more populated area. I can't imagine, though, voting for someone because I saw their name on a sign.

I believe you. I just don't understand it.