Bunnypants Signs Are Vanishing In GOOPland

[KharmaTrain]

http://www.dailyherald.com/oped/col_constable.asp?intID=38272143

It's true. In the GOP stronghold of DuPage County, where Ronald Reagan once ran roughshod over Paul Tsongas, yard signs for the Democratic presidential ticket of John Kerry and John Edwards outnumber the displays for George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.

But...

"We had 18,000 signs, most of which have been stolen," explains Barbara Murphy, chairwoman for the DuPage County Republican Party. Some of the Bush/Cheney signs that haven't been stolen have been ripped in half, spray-painted or torched.

<snip>

"I put up another sign 4 feet away, and they came back that night and wrote 'LIAR' (over the word 'Bush') in black spray paint," Muehlfelt says. "Some of the mischief is always around. But whoever is doing this - and we can figure it's not Republicans - when they start the big yard signs on fire in the middle of the night, they are putting lives in jeopardy.

<snip>

It wasn't that long ago that the Democrats in DuPage were a powerless, ineffective minority. Now, they are a force, and must deny unproven allegations of being flagrant intimidators.

"It's the result of the recent trend of the outwardly growing population toward us," says Cheri Shonkwiler, a GOP precinct volunteer who collects her neighborhood's Bush/Cheney signs every night and puts them back up in the morning.

"I'm not surprised by it because that's just because that's the way it is now in DuPage County."



First...many congrats to the growing number of DuPage Democrats! This is like Orange County, California going blue!!!

Sidenote: There's a Repugnican down the street from me who had three signs on his lawn. This dude's the local precinct captain and acted like a total ass to my my wife and I last 4th of July (especially when Melissa Bean came up and hugged us :evilgrin:). Today, those signs are gone. Vanished.

Our village clerk has done a great job of keeping the politicing strictly to private property...quickly removing Bunnypants signs from public right-of-ways...and the local Kerry supporters have made it our business not to be nasty or encourage any vandalism. Free speech is free speech. However, my son said "Bush sign tagging" is the rage at his high school...the draft issue has created a lot of very anxious 16, 17 & 18 year olds.

[murielm99]

1. My son lives in Du Page County.

56% of his precinct took Democratic ballots in the primary.

He has only seen one Keyes sign.

I know that everyone loves Obama, but I think there is more to it. Du Page County is changing. They are not the lily-white suburbs any more. Also, most of the repukes there are moderate. They care about making money, not about reactionary social issues.

They are losing their jobs like everyone else. I did a teaching practicum there a couple of years ago when I was getting my masters degree. I was in a Naperville middle school. I worked with a guy who subbed. He had been diagnosed with cancer, and lost his job one month later. He was subbing while he looked for work. He was in his fifties, with little prospect to replace the job he once had.

The Democrats in Du Page don't have to prove a damn thing. If Democratic precinct committeemen and elections judges there are trashing signs, I'll eat my hat -- the one Ron Santo signed!

[KharmaTrain]

3. 56% In A County Raygun Took With 75% in '84

I'm just north of Dupage in Cook county...but the area are very similar. The area's undergone a lot of change as us city kids from the wards and near Chicago suburbs move further and further out.

The high tech booms along the "golden" & "silver" coridors of the 90's brought in a lot of people from the east & west coasts as well. Many of these people were on the short-end of the stock market & tech busts and, as you note, aren't very happy.

I live near Motorola...in the 90's they had three plants and their major tech center going 24/7 here. The phones moved to Mexico and the rest went down as the company overextended themselves. Today I have neighbors with engineering degrees tending bar and selling cars (to the few of us who can afford them).

When I first came out this way, in 1982, I was the only one in my precinct to take a Democratic balot (well my wife took one, too) and got looks like I had just walked off a space ship.

I saw an upsurge in Democrats in my area in the 2000 Congressional campaign as we came within 8 points of getting Phil Crane. Melissa Bean has worked tirelessly since...putting together a great organization that covers a lot of turf (the north end of this district is the Wisconsin border) and we're on the verge of tossing this drunk and corporate shill.

Congradulate your son for me. Are you in Chicago, too?

[murielm99]

8. I am not in Chicago.

I am in Ogle County. But I lived in Du Page County from the time I was eleven, until 1978 (minus college).

The area has changed radically since I lived there. There were many farms there when I was growing up.

My son just lost his job at Fermi Lab. He goes to school part time, and works. They outsourced his job, and I think they are going to regret it. He worked at a help desk, where he answered computer questions for other departments. The first time some scientist can't find his research because his computer is acting strangely, it will hit the fan.

Anyway, he does need to finish school. I don't think it was a very satisfying job for him. He said it did not really require much knowledge. But it was employment.

He may have a job in January. But that is a long time with no work. He may end up living at home, which he will hate. But he will be there for the election!

[bluestateguy]

2. I did some checking

DuPage last voted Democratic for President in 1852, for Franklin Pierce. It voted for TR's Progressive Party candidacy in 1912, but has otherwise always voted Republican.

[KharmaTrain]

4. Any County Can Have A Bad 150 Years...LOL n/t

[regnaD kciN]

5. Reagan ran roughshod over Tsongas???

Seems like the author of that article was awfully confused -- Reagan ran for the Republican nomination in 1968, 1976, 1980, and 1984. Tsongas only ran for the Democratic nomination in 1992. Not only didn't Reagan and Tsongas meet in a general election, they never even ran in parallel primaries in the same year (or even the same decade)!

:wtf:

As far as I can tell, the only connection between Reagan and Tsongas is that they both died (far too young, in the latter's case) of diseases that might have been cured with the discoveries resulting from stem cell research.

[KharmaTrain]

6. I Noticed, But Didn't Want To Edit/Comment

I figured it'd get notice. Either he meant Dukakis, which still would have been wrong, or he's suffering from Altzheimers himself. This is a generally wingnut columnist who is trying to figure out what the hell is happening around him. LOL

[spooky3]

7. I do hope someone's telling the high school kids that sign tagging is NOT

ok. There have been several threads here decrying Repug vandalism of Kerry Edwards signs. Sauce for the goose, and all that...

[KharmaTrain]

9. We Can Control Our Kids, Not Theirs

While my wife and I have "adopted" our "Kerry kids"...first time voters (friends of my daughter) who we helped get registered and will be voting...almost all from very Repugnican families, we always were very careful to channel their enthusiasm to bringing more friends to vote.

Several of the Kerry supporters in our neighborhood have told their kids, including mine, to steer clear of messing with signs or getting into "pissing matches" with others.

I'm certain a lot of this vandalism is from kids and others who have a genuine hate of this pResident. Many of these kids don't support the war and know if he's not stopped, not only will this war continue but it will expand.

When this is all said and done, this regime's greatest failure in the election is underestimating the younger vote...it's here, it's energized and most are with us.