Posted on 11/01/2004 3:48:41 PM PST by Mean Daddy
Campaign signs taken from people's yards have always been a problem, but it's worse this election year, spokesmen from the two major political parties said.
"It's one of those things that happens in an election, but it's a little more this time because it (the presidential race) is so close," said John McCormally, spokesman for Iowa's John Kerry for President Campaign. "It's not substantially more, but everywhere in the state we've had reports of it."
"It appears to be a problem all over the state," said Dan Ronayne, spokesman for Iowa's campaign to re-elect President Bush. "It seems to be very pervasive. It's very unfortunate that people will enter someone's property to take signs."
McCormally said a possible reason for the increased number of signs stolen is because of the increased demand for campaign signs because of the interest in this year's election.
There's no way of knowing the exact number of election signs that have been stolen, and there's not much police can do about it, McCormally said.
"Unless they catch someone in the act of stealing a sign, there's not a lot they can do about it," he said.
McCormally said more signs are usually taken in those places where a particular race is close, but since the presidential race between Kerry and Bush is close in Iowa, the problem is occurring all over the state.
"We've tried to keep signs stocked up because it's been going on for about six weeks," he said.
Ronayne said, "It has put an additional burden on our supply of signs."
Neither Ronayne nor McCormally had any idea who those people are who are stealing the signs and did not want to cast blame on supporters of the other party.
McCormally also said Halloween has always been a busy time for sign stealers, though he hadn't yet heard about this past weekend's activities
I heard of some kids in our verrrrrrrry liberal community who snatched 33 Kerry yard signs. I was positive my Bush signs (up since August) would disappear in retaliation, but they did not. This is the very first time I have not had my signs stolen.
The puppy's a nice touch!
I get a small 5-community newspaper, and the crime reports are usually about police pulling over drunk drivers and petty thefts, but this week it was "sign stolen, sign stolen, sign stolen, house and sign hit by paintballs, sign stolen, house hit by paintballs, sign stolen." NO NEED to guess which signs. 2 of my neighbors had largish Bush signs, and both were stolen.
Rat bastar**s.
We got a guy down the street with Bush/Cheney signs. Nobody bothers it. Of course, the guy's a cop....
Here is South Florida - the Kerry signs remain undisturbed. The Bush signs usually get stolen within one night. The Bush voters keep putting them back up. You don't see that many Kerry signs. The thuggery by Dems and the thefts appear to be only mobilizing & motivating Repubs.
I think a small core of rabid Dems are mobilized while the majority of Repubs are.
My Bush sign was set on fire last night, so I don't think anyone's going to use that one again.
"Stolen REPUBLICAN signs a big problem this election year"
It sure is a problem here in Vegas, I can only spot one Bush sign anymore, but all the Kerry signs are up.
Makes me so mad.
Well, they do make good kindling. :)
Graduate of Underwood HS
Grew up around CB. Always thought of the rough ones in Twin City Plaza but the whole of CB must have gone by the way of trailor parks and casinos since I have been gone...sad to see...
Graduate of Underwood HS
Grew up around CB.
Today (Monday) is the seventh day in a row that a Bush/Cheney sign has been stolen from my yard by Kerry campaign supporters; though one day they did leave a nice “Kerry/Edwards” sign as a “fair exchange.” This intolerance for free speech rights and other opinions is not an aberration for the supporters of “tolerance” and “diversity.”
The Kerry campaign has used legal thuggery to try and keep presidential candidate Ralph Nader off the ballet in every state; Nader (Nov 1, Boston Globe) called Democratic National Convention chairman Terry McAuliffe "the chief architect of dirty tricks incorporated." In Pennsylvania the Kerry campaign’s successful anti-Nader litigation delayed the mailing of overseas military ballets; but the Democratic Party governor announced that there would be no extension for the receipt of those ballets, guaranteeing the disenfranchisement of service members who serve overseas (service members who are expected to be overwhelmingly pro-Bush); only the threat of GOP litigation has resulted in an extension.
When the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth attempted to run their first TV ads challenging Kerry’s Vietnam service claims, the Kerry campaign sent threatening legal letters to the stations. The Kerry campaign also demanded the suppression of the book “Unfit for Command.”
Even more disturbing is the Kerry campaign suppression of the documentary “Stolen Honor,” which explores Kerry’s activities in the Vietnam Veterans Against the War, Kerry’s claims that the American military routinely engaged in war crimes, and the impact those claims had on American PO.W.s and other service men. When Sinclair Broadcasting announced it would be broadcasting parts of the documentary “Stolen Honor” on its 60 stations (and invited Kerry to respond on the program); it was subjected to an unprecedented campaign of political, legal, and economic harassment, involving the FEC, the FCC, securities litigation, an advertiser boycott, and an open threat on Fox News Channel's "Dayside with Linda Vester”: : "I think they're going to regret doing this," Kerry campaign spokesman Chad Clanton warned before adding - "They better hope we don't win." Not surprisingly, Sinclair only showed about 5 minutes of “Stolen Honor,” with much pro-Kerry material. Where the film producers have rented movie halls, threats of litigation and violence against the theater owners have prevented showings.
There are reports of violence against Republican campaign offices across the country, and massive fraudulent voter registrations in key battleground states by groups allied with Kerry. Each fraudulent vote cancels out, and denies the right to express the will of an honest voter.
Meanwhile, there has been an avalanche of pro-Kerry; anti-Bush “news” programming, on much larger broadcast groups, including ABC’s “Nightline,” CBS News’ 60-Minutes, PBS’s “Frontline,” etc., with no offers of rebuttal, but President Bush has not attempted to retaliate using legal or regulatory threats.
Kerry and his fellow-travelers are not friends of free speech, if Kerry is rewarded with victory using these bulling tactics he and his people will have far greater power to suppress those who do not share their “progressive” values. Those of us who value our traditional American 1st Amendment rights must vote tomorrow for President Bush.
My son worked the late shift at Lowe's last night. Someone took the magnetic "W" off of his Explorer in the parking lot. Hope they were a Bush supporter and wanted to show it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.