On the latter, we appear to be winning. But it get's weird sometimes.
Like, as I was driving to the Brookside St. Patrick's Day Parade a few weeks ago, toodling down Ward Parkway (this city's mansion row), I noticed one giant Funkhouser sign after another, compared to a mere two for Brooks. It was one of those moments when I felt in my gut that we'd win this thing. I thought, If these rich folks are coming out this strong for Mark, we're looking good.
Then, a week or so later, Allie and I were driving down Ward Parkway and we saw tons and tons of Brooks signs. And, oddly, some of the big Funkhouser signs had disappeared. It was one of those moments when I thought we might lose.
Allie was instantly suspicious. She thought Brooks supporters might have planted them without permission. I had a hard time buying this, though. I figured the wealthy elite would never stand for such tactics.
But yesterday we drove down Ward Parkway again. This time almost all the Brooks signs were gone. The same couple big signs I'd seen on that first day were still there. But the littler signs that had been so abundant a week earlier were now few and far between. Indeed, the ones I saw were in two yards: One of an empty house with a for sale sign out front; the other a house under construction. Oh, and there was another one snug up against a bush, hidden from view of the nearby house.
At home later last night night, I got a call from Gloria, Mark's wife, asking me to write a campaign press release about yard signs.
And here it is:
Statement on Stolen and Illegally Placed Yard Signs
It has recently come to our attention that yard signs – many of them the large four-foot-by-eight-foot variety – have been stolen from the front lawns of our supporters along Ward Parkway and Brookside. At the same time, our signs have been illegally planted on public property in the Northland. The Funkhouser campaign team does not condone, nor participate in, the placement of signs on public land.
4 comments:
My sign was removed from my yard and thrown in the street about a block away... I retrieved it and replaced it in my yard in Northeast KC. Since the opposition can't seem to create or follow any rules on something complicated like TIFs I guess yard sign etiquette is beyond them too.
Congratulations on the Nelson Book Award nomination!
as far as i know, the campaign you're helping to manage would be the first one ever to address this issue without first being harassed by a local newspaper, for example.
i have gotten to the point that i don't think it's very keen to dish about stupid and illegal campaign signs, since it's hard for candidates to control what happens and since some newspapers that are tossed on both private and public land (and that contain advertising for politicians) are protected by the first amendment (free speech).
i think it's amusing to watch the dance of the signs. the people who do it, however, are breaking laws (if putting signs in public right-of-ways or stealing others'), and are petty.
I can explain the Ward Parkway signs:
Pat Gray.
His Northstar Marketing co. is the one hired by the establishment pols to get all those gravy-train ballot issues passed, as well as our more morally-challenged politicians elected.
He has a habit of placing signs in the yards of unoccupied homes.
He also thought that he could plant those Brooks for Mayor signs in the yards of all those rich establishment people on Ward Parkway. (It always worked before.)
But the people who live there probably pulled them out because they are for Funkhouser.
I thought this image: http://jferg.lusars.net/images/bad_brooks.jpg
(taken with my cell phone in front of my polling place this morning) was pretty telling of the whole situation.
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