It looks like the Obama campaign doesn't care very much about yard signs

[skipos]

Read the responses here:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/20/18152/3960/753/602322

I have had the same experience here in MI for weeks. The local Obama HQ doesn't have signs or bumperstickers, and doesn't look to be getting them anytime soon.

Personally, I think yard signs are a great way of reminding people to get involved, making people feel like they are a part of a movement, getting the discussion going with neighbors, etc.

I don't claim to know how to run a campaign though. What say you? Is the Obama campaign doing the right thing here?

[1corona4u]

1. They're just getting stolen anyway....

I mean, it'd be nice....but I think people can make their own too.

[Allyoop]

25. Not free

During the Kerry campaign, folks kept asking for them, but wouldn't buy them. The Obama camp is not going to give them away and your local Democratic Party Headquarters can't afford to give them away either.

Here in NE N. Carolina, the Repukes are really bad about stealing or trashing them.

So, I think the suggestions to somehow make your own or order your own is the way to go.

We sit up at the top of a hill with no path past our house, so signs wouldn't have any effect anyway.

[1corona4u]

35. I didn't say anything about them being free....

not sure where you got that.(I didn't read the link, just the post)

But, yes, they'd be easy to make at home.

[sufrommich]

2. There seems to be none to be had in the western suburbs of

Wayne County either.The republicans never seem to have any trouble getting their signs out.What's the hold up?

[MissMarple]

3. Big demand. When they come in here, they go really fast. n/t

[BelleCarolinaPeridot]

7. Yes they go fast.

The best way to get them is to go to the Obama website and order them from there.

[gblady]

18. I was at our local office phonebanking...

and folks were coming in all evening buying signs...
some 4-6 at a time...

they do indeed, go fast!

[Dawgs]

4. It drives me crazy; especially since I already live in a very red area.

The republicans put signs everywhere; not just in people's front yards. Why can't I see a few when I drive on my way to work. Shit, I'd be willing to put them there.

[yourout]

5. Better to buy adds.....Radio,TV, and Print.

[sufrommich]

16. I think yard signs are important,

it let's people sitting on the fence gage the kind of support candidates have.It may sound trivial,but some people are looking for a bandwagon to jump onto.

[tblue]

6. As HRC said, "When you hear the dogs, keep going." Put another sign up in its place.

What can the campaign do? It's okay, just keep going. They are creating their own ugly karma.

[crim son]

8. Funny.

I'd noticed a few McCain going up but no Obama ones... but my bf just informed me that he knows of one house with such a sign. Does it matter? Are people influenced by their neighbors' yard signs? Oh, probably. People are such lemmings.

[abumbyanyothername]

9. deleted -- campaign HQ too slow.

[livetohike]

10. Our local Dem. club went to a local printer

and printed yard signs because the wait to get them from the Obama campaign was too long. Maybe you could check with the local Dem. club in your area :shrug: If they buy them in bulk, it isn't too expensive.

[sandnsea]

15. So did we

We got a Dem friendly printer who printed them at near cost too. Buttons, bumper stickers, and yard signs.

[JimDandy]

73. Same thing here in eastern WA.

[writes3000]

24. That's EXACTLY what people should do. Stop complaining and take action. nt

[goclark]

68. Take Action ~ have your kids or grandkids make signs for

the window ~ it would be delightful.

[Birthday]

11. Signs and Wonders

When I was at the Obama office today, I saw a notice that said that people can download signs from the Obama website, take that somehow (digitally) to Office Depot, where they can print out a sign for us. I will try to find out more about this later.

[hisownpetard]

54. Hey, Birthday - welcome to DU!

:hi:

[WeDidIt]

12. Get a group together and buy in bulk online!

Damn, it's not that tough. I just ordered a couple of signs and they'll be here in plenty of time.

[rzemanfl]

13. Same thing in Florida. We had to beg for a yard sign. I got my

car magnet by contributing to the campaign.

[NightWatcher]

14. the demand is very high for them. it's not like they arent trying to get them

I was at Obama HQ in Savannah before Super Tuesday. less then an hour after they received more than a hundred, they were gone.

Dont you get it, Obama's too popular

[hisownpetard]

17. I can't get one (Cape Cod) and evidently other people can't, either - the only Obama signs I see

are actually home-made ones!!

[Coexist]

19. I've been told yard signs are coming in early October

[elocs]

20. I have not seen many yard signs for either Obama or McCain where I live.

I take my yard sign with me:

[FrenchieCat]

21. Mine is inside of my window facing the street......

so folks can see it, but can't take it.

[1Hippiechick]

78. Exactly what I was going to recommend to the ppl's whose were stolen... n/t

[writes3000]

22. I have no idea what the campaign's feeling about them is but I can tell you this.

This is our campaign, too, so if people really want campaign signs, they should absolutely organize and print some up.

I'm not surprised that the campaign is having trouble keeping things in stock. They are cool items to have. But they are easy to steal and destroy.

I gave away my Obama button today because someone wanted to buy one and our group was out of them.

[sufrommich]

32. The Michigan economy isn't full of people with money

to spend on bulk campaign signs.If you give people the option of buying one for $5.00 they'll take it. If you insist they organize groups to print them up,you won't get many takers around here. people are worried about keeping their houses,yard signs aren't high on the priority list.The McCain campaign seems to have no problems handing out signs around here,and it's starting to become obvious.

[writes3000]

34. Well if people are worried about their houses, they better vote for Obama.

That seems like the best motivation of all.

[blue neen]

23. We had a registration and information booth today at a local festival.

This is in a red area of southwestern PA, but we had many requests for yard signs, bumper stickers, and posters. Unfortunately, we didn't have any. It's kind of a shame when people want to spread the enthusiasm, but we didn't have anything to give them.

[Left Is Write]

26. Two homes in my neighborhood have managed to get them.

I live in a red neighborhood in a red town in a red state.

In the last week, I have seen two Obama signs (and no McCain signs - by contrast, this time four years ago, the Bush/Cheney signs popped up on about every third lawn).

[Cha]

31. That's good news...wonder

how they managed?

[paregdem]

27. Pittsburgh Had Some

My son was able to get a yard sign at the Obama field office in downtown Pittsburgh a few days ago. And the volunteer there gave him a button too, which I know that he will wear proudly! I'm still waiting on my bumper sticker, I want to shout out "OBAMA" everywhere I drive :patriot:

[hisownpetard]

56. Welcome aboard, paradegm!

[paregdem]

60. Thank You! Most happy to be here : ) ~N/T ~

[melody]

28. I bought mine -- it was stolen so I just bought another n/t

[merh]

29. I've always disliked yard signs

As a kid, the great fun of the evening was swapping yard signs - Neighbor A supports the "R" and Neighbor B supports the "D" - a good night of silliness was putting the "D" in A's yard and the "R" in B's yard. Stealing was too dangerous, if you got caught with them it was obvious you weren't working for the campaign late at night.

[hisownpetard]

38. Well, I've always disliked bumper stickers and have never in my life affixed one to my car.

I just put four Obama stickers on my back window!!!!

[merh]

39. same here

though I did display anti-bush stickers on my old jeep - when I took the jeep in for servicing I got it back with the bumper sticker disfigured. x(

I keep the stickers in the windows of my car now.

[FloridaGrl]

42. Same here and

now I have two.

[hisownpetard]

53. Welcome to DU!

:bounce:

[paregdem]

61. Good Idea

I like the idea of putting stickers on the back window. If I get enough of them I can do that too. The bumper stickers that came out when Kerry was running came off my car nice and clean. I really hated to take that off, I waited until exactly one year after the election had passed before I did it (just in case Bush was a really bad dream-come to think of it, it has been a nightmare that's lasted for eight years).

[1Hippiechick]

79. Hubby about croaked! We have NEVER had a bumper sticker on ANY car in 38 yrs of marriage! Do now!

[Native]

30. No problem in our FL county (mostly red)

We have two offices - one local and one nat'l. The local office has tons of stuff, and on Saturdays they take all of their merchandise & sell it under a big tent off the side of a main thoroughfare. For $29 we got two t-shirts, one yard sign, 3 bumper stickers, one button, and several stickers. The nat'l office has no idea when they'll be receiving merchandise.

[nc4bo]

33. In Fay., NC the O-lady said their stock room was standing-room-only full up with stuff

but after the convention, she said they were cleaned out. When me and mom went their last week, they were down to 20 buttons (we bought 10) and 1 bumper sticker.

She said they just cannot keep anything in stock and the little the do get, is gone almost immediately.

Rotten when you really want something right then and there but OUTSTANDING that so many people want to show their support!!

[electricmonk]

36. Picked one up this afternoon

They were limiting them one per household which sounds reasonable to me. I volunteered to drive people to the polls on election day while I was there.

[Captiosus]

37. Maybe I just don't see the big deal.

The online store's stock of yard signs is habitually backordered. Many local campaign HQ don't have any to sell. How is that bad? Sure sounds like to me they have more demand than supply and that's a good thing.

Best ideas I can come up with:
Buy rally signs and cover them with transparent lamination or Contact brand paper to weatherproof them. Nail them to a yard stake or sharpened dowel and plant it in your yard.

If buying rally signs is impossible (a lot of places are out of those, too), use a graphic program to enlarge an Obama '08 or Obama/Biden logo to fit on a 8.5x11 piece of paper in portrait orientation and then either laminate it and stick it on a pike or tape it in your window(s) facing the street.

See? Easy, no fuss ways around the problem.
Though if you do the latter, don't let it keep you from donating (goes without saying).

[Hansel]

40. Bought 3 yesterday at a rally in Minneapolis for $2 a piece

They had plenty of them. It was a rally to sign up volunteers held by Mayor Rybeck, the MN state speaker of the house and Congressman Keith Elison. There were 3,500 people there.

They were also giving away "Women for Obama" buttons and car magnets. We scored big.

[high density]

41. I've seen candidates win the yard sign race

but lose the election handily.

http://www.democraticstuff.com/Barack-Obama-Signs-Stickers-s/1035.htm
http://www.demstore.com/

[writes3000]

43. THANK YOU! If people go to these websites, they should get the signs asap.

Oy.

[BlooInBloo]

44. Obviously Obama doesn't care about winning the election...

:facepalm:

DUers are fucking geniuses.

[blogslut]

45. Overwhelming demand

DIY. That's my answer.

[Midlodemocrat]

46. I saw a ton of them today when I was out at yard sales.

I was surprised, actually. Didn't see one McLame yard sign, but tons of Obama and tons of signs supporting Mark Warner.

[DeadManInc]

47. I am thinking about painting one on a sheet of plywood.

I have been to the dem HQ 3 times and still have no signs. They finally have car stickers.

[Motown_Johnny]

48. Obama signs popping up all over N E Detroit suburbs in the last couple of weeks

maybe they are being sent to areas that are more in contention than a collage town where he should have a huge lead

[undeterred]

49. Campaign People will tell you that yard signs dont influence the vote

and that they are not a measure of the vote- but the average person does think they are important and if people are asking for them, the campaign should have them. This is a problem across the country, not just where you are. And no, they are very disorganized about some things. The campaign depends on a lot of extremely young people who have never held any other kind of job before. They may have a lot of heart and soul in it, but they have no experience, and it shows. If someone older comes along and tries to show them how to do it, they get kicked in the face.

[jberryhill]

50. DOWNLOAD GRAPHICS - GO TO COPY/PRINT SHOP - MAKE SIGN

It's that easy.

[spanone]

51. none here in nashville...went online to national site...none there...i made my own

[roseBudd]

52. I know the Obama campaign in SW Ohio is renting buses to take students to the BoE for early voting..

beginning Sept. 30. Way better than yard signs.

[Hippo_Tron]

55. Signs are important for state and local candidate, not so much Presidential candidates

[GreenEyedLefty]

57. My advice in MI: call your local Dem party HQ as well as Obama offices

The demand is HUGE. Also, they shifted to "Obama/Biden" signs instead of just "Obama," which might further explain the delay. At any rate, check in the mornings when the signs come in - by afternoon most of them are gone.

[madrchsod]

58. 300 signs went out into a 2 solid republican counties here in northern illinois

and my county still has`t received their obama signs. many of us here bought signs from the other county....why did the other county get theirs before ours....could it be their county chairwoman is a fellow du member?

my republican county has three times as many democratic candidate signs as do the republicans...i have 5 in my yard.

[VoodooGuru]

59. my local party office says they'll have them around the 25th.

That's in Kentucky. I would have hoped they'd have them to you by now in the battleground states. People do tend to be more comfortable with a choice if they see evidence that a lot of other people are making the same choice.

[Liberal_in_LA]

62. Obama signs cheap at this site. and can buy in bulk

http://www2.demstore.com/cgi-local/SoftCart.exe/scstore/Obama/index.html?E+scstore+done

BTW, cafepress sells repub stuff also.

[Joe the Revelator]

63. One thing that I pounded into my people during campaigns....

Signs don't vote.

[and-justice-for-all]

64. Then make your own..nt

[Top Cat]

65. I think spending the campaign money to reach the masses is better

[Lord Helmet]

66. that's kind of a passive aggressive statement

first of all it's cool that stock of this keeps running out and well I guess that's good enough for me

[TexasObserver]

67. They are not cost effective or an effective use of staff time.

They get stolen at a high rate, they're expensive, and someone has to deal with getting them out there. The reality is that the election takes place on TV, so getting the candidate on TV or the internet is the ball game. Bumper stickers make their owners feel more gung ho, and achieve little otherwise.

[MirrorAshes]

69. Keep in mind all of the official Obama merch is union made in the USA.

I guess they'd have a lot more of them available for everybody if they just outsourced the job to China, but I'll take Obama's approach.

[TooRaLoo]

70. Actually, I'm amazed at how many I've seen

I've seen more Obama signs here in TULSA than McCain signs. I think I've seen 3 McCain yard signs. This morning, in one neighborhood, I saw at least 10. And I've seen a few others elsewhere. Kinda makes me want to go driving around to check out other neighbohoods.

YAY!!!!!

[gmoney]

71. had the same problem with Kerry signs in 04

Mine has been up for probably six weeks now... once in a while, someone will step on it so it's lying in my yard, but before I can get around to fixing it, someone else will come along and put it upright. :)

Thought for sure it would blow away in last weekend's windstorm... the crossbar and sign part blew off the vertical supports that had come apart, but it was all there in my yard... just a minute to put it back together and ta da!

[tammywammy]

72. store.barackobama.com

[jcla]

74. In the Heart of Black Los Angeles

We have had our yard signs out and have for months! I love walking the dogs passed them! Makes me feel good about my 'hood!

[catgirl]

75. Homemade signs work too (nt)

[Name removed]

76. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[1Hippiechick]

77. Just got a notice this week - not supposed to go up until 45 days b4 the election.....n/t

[tokenlib]

81. Those laws are unconstitutional--the ACLU has nailed a number of municipalities on those...

Sadly, the only time thos laws get challenged seems to be when someone breaks the law and gets the ACLU to fight for them. And the ACLU won't do much unless you break the law...I'm sure it would swamp them to go after every town that has such a law.

[Red Knight]

80. Mine was trashed yesterday

I don't think it was McCain supporters though---they are few and far between around here...but there are about a billion kids in the neighborhood and they are constantly stomping through the juniper I have out front--or throwing stones from an upper garden(no respect at all)so I'm guessing they finally got to it. I had it most of the year.

My son wants to replace it but I kind of took the wires out and put it on an inside window. The torn edge doesn't really show--one wire was missing. I think I'll just keep it inside.

On another note--I wonder how long it'll take for my free MOVE ON bumpersticker with Obama/Biden to get here.

If nothing else--people who see yard signs might be reminded to register to vote--if they aren't---or if they are--to vote, but I doubt it changes someone's mind toward a candidate.

And if someone is so apathetic they won't vote anyway--I doubt it will get them moving.

Still, I usually put them up.