This election season, a sign of the times is… no signs at all.
The current Presidential contest hasn’t been an easy one for our national sanity, but our lawns are loving it. The view of America is decidedly different thanks to the heated, highly-publicized battle between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. And that’s literally the case in our neatly-coiffed neighborhoods and sunlit suburbs, where yard signs – a “holiday” decorating tradition right up there with Christmas lights and Halloween pumpkins – are almost nowhere to be seen this time around.
Americans might be making their opinions known at water coolers, dinner tables and social media stops. But not their front yards. Unlike years past, when colorful banners representing either side of a Presidential race dot our communities, there are reports from every region of the country – Florida, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Washington, you name it – of a lack of signage this year. Lawn signs, along with bumper stickers and campaign buttons, have been an American election staple for more than a century. But the 2016 race – a game-changer in so many ways – looks to have changed that too.
If fewer everyday Americans are backing away from such “out and proud” proclamations of their impending vote, what does it mean? A few possibilities:
No one wants to admit who they’re voting for. With two of the most unpopular candidates in history (to their detractors, at least), this would come as no surprise. In most corners of America, you can take sides and be “out and proud” for the Cubs vs. the Indians, Brad vs. Angelina or James Hinchliffe vs. Laurie Hernandez without feeling like you just belched in a crowded elevator. Not so this election. Just not so.
No one wants to be “branded” among their neighbors. With candidates so polarizing, a sign for Clinton or Trump is a political statement like never before – an implied alignment with any number of controversies on either side. Stick up a sign and that might make you, in the neighbors’ eyes, any number of epithets by association. And do you really want your neighbor to challenge you on the latest Wikileaks release or Billy Bush conspiracy theory while you’re grabbing the morning paper off the driveway in your bathrobe?
Many people are voting for who they DON’T want to be President vs. who they DO. And do you really put up a sign for that? In our everyday lives, we don’t want hurricanes, tax audits, traffic jams or expired milk... but there’s no compelling need to broadcast our preference for the opposite.
Tensions are high, and fear is real, this time around. With a country so divided and rhetoric so rampant, the fear of violence, vandalism, theft and bullying (both physically and on social media) seems more ominous and real, and Americans don’t want to invite trouble (literally) to their front door.
Deep down inside, we really, really just want to get along with our neighbors (and each other). Isn’t civility, respect and a passion to preserve the peace among the most American traditions of all, and a desired cornerstone of every community? And in the end, don’t we all just want to get along? Here’s hoping that’s the case – and on November 9, when it’s all over, no matter the result, the lack of signs means we can all run out into the streets, fire up grills, pop open beers and have a block party to end all block parties… and one giant group hug.