Lawn signs a bad sign, says one Cobourg resident
Got this email from Cobourg resident Scott Berry:
My kids are asking: Where are the election lawn signs?
Lawn signs - by their very nature - are in fact - a public discussion on issues. So where is the democratic debate? Were is the fertilizer manuer for our lawns?
It’s election time and my kids want to start playing our favorite car game - “cast your vote”. Our tradition come election time is this. When we drive around town everyone picks a candidate and we start counting the signs until we get home.The candidate with the highest sign count gets elected!
Best part is there are no spoiled ballots - unless a heavy wind blows a sign half-off its stake.
It’s a daily education of civics and democracy in the car! And you can switch your candidate every day like Belinda crossing the floor.
But my little deputy returning officers have nothing to do in their mobile polling station! This isn’t just a game we are missing out on - we are losing valuable quality family time.
On a 10 minute drive around town there are only a handful of signs to count. On this basis -this election is to close call. Two minutes in the car - its game over and they’re starting ask - are we there yet??
With manicured lawns the norm in town -(and only one candidate with a naturalized lawn with a sign that barely peeks out from the weeds - sorry meant wild flowers) - I have an unobstructed sight line from my car. So, I can only assume that candidates have abandoned the sign wars strategy this time around.
Where is the value of local government in action if the candidates don’t make the effort to litter our lawns with coreplast signs and wooden stakes?? Where is the character education building opportunity for my children?
I spent a fortune on Chismbop so they could do long-division with their toes and use their fingers for their 9x‘s table! The current game - with four weeks to go and with no name brand presence by candidates means they can do it in their head without a calculator or a pencil. It takes them fewer than the five fingers on their little hand to come up with a total. On this basis, our daily voter turnout works out to be about 5%.
Where’s the challenge - where’s the math skill - where's the fun?
Maybe the times are a changing. Maybe a clean sweep of the recognizable names in Cobourg is in the making? Maybe voters will only be selecting a name on the ballot they don't recognize as the safest choice for change?? . Will voters want to mark an 'X" against only the candidate(s) they don't know or recognize! If so than - the best election strategy for the new crop of candidates in Cobourg is to fly under the radar. The candidate with the weakest campaign team and fewest signs will have the strategic advantage!
No lawn-sign discourse from our candidates or family values in the car? It's a price I would gladly pay.
My kids are asking: Where are the election lawn signs?
Lawn signs - by their very nature - are in fact - a public discussion on issues. So where is the democratic debate? Were is the fertilizer manuer for our lawns?
It’s election time and my kids want to start playing our favorite car game - “cast your vote”. Our tradition come election time is this. When we drive around town everyone picks a candidate and we start counting the signs until we get home.The candidate with the highest sign count gets elected!
Best part is there are no spoiled ballots - unless a heavy wind blows a sign half-off its stake.
It’s a daily education of civics and democracy in the car! And you can switch your candidate every day like Belinda crossing the floor.
But my little deputy returning officers have nothing to do in their mobile polling station! This isn’t just a game we are missing out on - we are losing valuable quality family time.
On a 10 minute drive around town there are only a handful of signs to count. On this basis -this election is to close call. Two minutes in the car - its game over and they’re starting ask - are we there yet??
With manicured lawns the norm in town -(and only one candidate with a naturalized lawn with a sign that barely peeks out from the weeds - sorry meant wild flowers) - I have an unobstructed sight line from my car. So, I can only assume that candidates have abandoned the sign wars strategy this time around.
Where is the value of local government in action if the candidates don’t make the effort to litter our lawns with coreplast signs and wooden stakes?? Where is the character education building opportunity for my children?
I spent a fortune on Chismbop so they could do long-division with their toes and use their fingers for their 9x‘s table! The current game - with four weeks to go and with no name brand presence by candidates means they can do it in their head without a calculator or a pencil. It takes them fewer than the five fingers on their little hand to come up with a total. On this basis, our daily voter turnout works out to be about 5%.
Where’s the challenge - where’s the math skill - where's the fun?
Maybe the times are a changing. Maybe a clean sweep of the recognizable names in Cobourg is in the making? Maybe voters will only be selecting a name on the ballot they don't recognize as the safest choice for change?? . Will voters want to mark an 'X" against only the candidate(s) they don't know or recognize! If so than - the best election strategy for the new crop of candidates in Cobourg is to fly under the radar. The candidate with the weakest campaign team and fewest signs will have the strategic advantage!
No lawn-sign discourse from our candidates or family values in the car? It's a price I would gladly pay.
posted by Robert Washburn at
11:49 PM
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