Candidate Yard Signs: Do They Influence Voters?

[arwalden]

Or are they just one supporter's way of publicly thumbing their nose and being antagonistic to the supporters of the other candidate?

Do people really drive through neighborhoods and think to themselves... "Wow, look at all those Bush/Cheney signs! I think I'll vote for Bush/Cheney!"

-- Allen

P.S. Do you put candidate signs in your yard? (I do.)

[DS1]

1. I find them interesting

They slowly turn from blue as I drive from MA through VT to a shiny bright red in NY State (Northern)

on edit: I guess that makes Vermont a shade of purple ;-)

[Raven]

2. I have my Kerry sign out but

I only get about three cars a day along this lonely dirt road. However, when I pass a sign it brings the candidate to my mind even if only for a few seconds. I guess it may be effective for name recognition and visibility purposes and it's cheap advertising.

[Kamika]

3. they can

If someone doesn't recognize the candidatethey look him / her up

[TrogL]

4. They work

I work for a political campaign. The signs really do make a difference. Believe it or not people think "I should vote for this guy because a lot of other people support him", despite a complete lack of knowledge of the issues or the person they're voting for.

It's pathetic, really.

[Intelsucks]

5. They could possibly cause the "bandwagon effect" on certain people

over a period of several weeks, especially if they don't follow politics closely.

I do not put signs in my yard because no one but my immediate neighbors would ever see them.

When I was in high school, we used to have some serious fun with cadidate yard signs... Imagine waking up in the morning and you have 100 of them in your front yard for the candidate that you don't support. :o My folks always said, nothing good ever happens after midnight... I beg to differ.:evilgrin:

[Nikia]

6. My step uncle was arrested for doing this

Fortunately his history teacher dropped the charges when he realized that the culprits were a couple of his students just trying to be funny.
I think that in some states/municipalities this is a major offense so be careful.

[Intelsucks]

7. It was 20 years ago. I don't do mischievous acts any longer.

n/t

[trof]

8. Not this voter.

Neither do bumper stickers.
Something new in the media, either positive or negative, might.
Depends on the outlet and if I trust them.
This is a very short list for me.

[jburton]

9. yep, they work

They add legitimacy to a candidate, unless your neighbors think you are a real ass. Then it may not help the candidate.

[leftofthedial]

10. they pretty much just tell me which of my neighbors to hate

So I guess they work.

[arwalden]

14. The Thought Crossed My Mind...

LOL

-- Allen

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

11. No yard sign because no yard

I live in the middle of the woods! But I do have 'yard signs' on the side windows of my car. I've found that people have asked me about my candidate and the other Democratic candidates because I'm about the only one in the town where I work that has any political signs.

[Festivito]

12. I'm across the street from a polling place.

Many Democrats have been on my front lawn.

And, I make sure the grass gets an extra cut just before election day.

Many people consider it their duty to vote but don't think about it ahead of time. I think the signs help.

[DemoTex]

13. Evidently they work. So do bumper stickers.

I read an article recently (in the past 3 months or so) that stated that yard signs and bumper stickers give more bang for the advertising buck of any form of political advertising. I wish I had a link or a source.

I put political signs in my front yard in Dallas. My liberal neighbor across the street and I usually have the first signs up in political season. What is most interesting, from my perspective as a Democrat, is watching signs for Democratic candidates spring up in other yards in the neighborhood. Seems we have a good number of closet Dems around this ultra-right wing part of town.