by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
This is Primary Election Day in Missouri (and Kansas, Tennessee, Arizona, and Michigan) and I have just completed a long drive across south central Missouri where I saw much political signage and was inundated with last-minute political radio ads. I saw one enormous Trump billboard near Mountain Grove on what appeared to be a very prosperous farm. The big roadside advertisement was well done - and spelled correctly - and looked as though some serious money had gone into it. Most of the other roadside signs that I encountered were considerably smaller, but most were also professionally done.
I don't know how much the wealthy farmer spent on his Trump billboard, but I do know that there is a liberal group called the Mad Dog PAC that is creating some memorable billboards in several states, and theirs are running around $5,400 each. The Mad Dog PAC was started as a GoFundMe project by an amateur photographer and former low-level Clinton White House official. It began slowly in 2017, but now has over forty signs up with orders for more.
Some of the Mad Dog signs that are receiving the most chatter are up along Kentucky highways and are aimed at ridiculing Senator Mitch McConnell. Perhaps the most famous one shows Mitch and his wife, US Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, with the caption "We're rich! How ya'll doin'?" Another features Mitch solo and reads "Putin's Mitch!" Both signs have a red background with large yellow letters - and they are hard not to stare at.
Another Mad Dog political billboard features what appears to be an official mug shot of Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz next to a large printed question asking how many DUIs he has had. Again, this sign is also compelling and draws attention to itself.
Large, splashy billboards with photos and bright lettering are one end of the political sign spectrum, but little signs are also making a comeback, and there is now a movement to replicate the famous "Burma Shave" style signs of the mid-twentieth century. I remember those small, oblong signs well. They would be strung out for a quarter-mile or so along a farmer's fence line and carry a clever (and humorous) message a word or two at a time that always ended with "Burma Shave!"
An "Indviisible" group in western Kentucky recently came up with the idea of using that model of signage to needle Mitch McConnell, the state's senior senator and the Senate Majority Leader. Their string of signs carry a short message about McConnell, like one series that focuses on his wealth, or another that focuses on the many years that he has been in the Senate, and then always ends with a plug for McConnell's November opponent: "Amy McGrath 2020" or "Vote Amy McGrath."
Last week the Kentucky signs made national news after some vandals spray painted "Trump" and "MAGA" on several. Neighbors of the people who had posted the signs rushed in to help clean them up before the paint dried. Some of those helping in the emergency clean-up were conservatives who just could not abide the vandalism.
Tomorrow, at least here in Missouri - and four other states - many signs will come down and the radio stations will begin playing more music - at least for a few weeks - and we can all pretend that life is at least somewhat normal. But then, ever so slowly, it will begin percolating toward November, and all of the noise and roadside distractions will resume with a vengeance.
It's a matter of ebb and flow. Much like the pandemic, politics oozes forward, backs off for awhile, and then rushes back at us. Both are an annoyance, and both can be exceedingly dangerous - but the major difference is that one day there will be a cure for the pandemic!
Citizen Journalist
This is Primary Election Day in Missouri (and Kansas, Tennessee, Arizona, and Michigan) and I have just completed a long drive across south central Missouri where I saw much political signage and was inundated with last-minute political radio ads. I saw one enormous Trump billboard near Mountain Grove on what appeared to be a very prosperous farm. The big roadside advertisement was well done - and spelled correctly - and looked as though some serious money had gone into it. Most of the other roadside signs that I encountered were considerably smaller, but most were also professionally done.
I don't know how much the wealthy farmer spent on his Trump billboard, but I do know that there is a liberal group called the Mad Dog PAC that is creating some memorable billboards in several states, and theirs are running around $5,400 each. The Mad Dog PAC was started as a GoFundMe project by an amateur photographer and former low-level Clinton White House official. It began slowly in 2017, but now has over forty signs up with orders for more.
Some of the Mad Dog signs that are receiving the most chatter are up along Kentucky highways and are aimed at ridiculing Senator Mitch McConnell. Perhaps the most famous one shows Mitch and his wife, US Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, with the caption "We're rich! How ya'll doin'?" Another features Mitch solo and reads "Putin's Mitch!" Both signs have a red background with large yellow letters - and they are hard not to stare at.
Another Mad Dog political billboard features what appears to be an official mug shot of Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz next to a large printed question asking how many DUIs he has had. Again, this sign is also compelling and draws attention to itself.
Large, splashy billboards with photos and bright lettering are one end of the political sign spectrum, but little signs are also making a comeback, and there is now a movement to replicate the famous "Burma Shave" style signs of the mid-twentieth century. I remember those small, oblong signs well. They would be strung out for a quarter-mile or so along a farmer's fence line and carry a clever (and humorous) message a word or two at a time that always ended with "Burma Shave!"
An "Indviisible" group in western Kentucky recently came up with the idea of using that model of signage to needle Mitch McConnell, the state's senior senator and the Senate Majority Leader. Their string of signs carry a short message about McConnell, like one series that focuses on his wealth, or another that focuses on the many years that he has been in the Senate, and then always ends with a plug for McConnell's November opponent: "Amy McGrath 2020" or "Vote Amy McGrath."
Last week the Kentucky signs made national news after some vandals spray painted "Trump" and "MAGA" on several. Neighbors of the people who had posted the signs rushed in to help clean them up before the paint dried. Some of those helping in the emergency clean-up were conservatives who just could not abide the vandalism.
Tomorrow, at least here in Missouri - and four other states - many signs will come down and the radio stations will begin playing more music - at least for a few weeks - and we can all pretend that life is at least somewhat normal. But then, ever so slowly, it will begin percolating toward November, and all of the noise and roadside distractions will resume with a vengeance.
It's a matter of ebb and flow. Much like the pandemic, politics oozes forward, backs off for awhile, and then rushes back at us. Both are an annoyance, and both can be exceedingly dangerous - but the major difference is that one day there will be a cure for the pandemic!
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