It is 5:00 am on the day of the primary election in my great state.  Thank goodness the Senator does not have a primary opponent, for if he did, I would not be in front of the computer.  In fact, if he did, I would not be home at all. You see, on the morning of any election day a candidate’s work begins in the wee hours of the morning.

During the Senator’s first ever campaign eight years ago, on the eve of what had turned into a heated six way primary, the Senator and I had assembled our friends, a.k.a. political rookies like us, to put up signs near the polling locations in his district.  Yes, don’t say it.  I know what you’re thinking and I agree. These signs clutter the landscape, drive people nuts, and irritate the city who eventually sweeps them up, but I assure you they are vitally important for political candidates in obtaining some election day name identification with the casual voter.  Trust me, if they weren’t significant, the vast amount of time and money would not be wasted on them.  T-R-U-S-T me.

Signs speak, and putting up those last minute, election day signs is an important part of the political game.

So, what we learned on the morning of August 27th, 2002, was that we had put up our signs…..WAY too early.  How do I know this?  Because the Senator and I drove around the key polling places between 5:00 and 6:00 am to check on our signs, and they were all GONE.  Vanished. Disappeared…..Just like that.

No, they were not swept up by the City…..

No, they did not blow away………

Yes, there were lots of signs up…other people’s signs.

Yes, we had put these signs up the night before…..which was plenty of time for them to be quickly and quietly removed by our opposition…

This is true….and, I am still searching for the photo we took when we discovered several of our large signs all wadded up in a public dumpster….which made me want to go home and cry, but you can’t.  You simply have to laugh it off because at that point, what can you do?

Seriously, a healthy perspective and good sense of humor are key in playing the political sign game or it can easily take your campaign off message.  The other side plays dirty regardless of who it is and your signs will still magically disappear.  Which is why, if the Senator was on the ballot today, we would be driving around guarding our signs and ensuring their strategic placement….until the polls open at 7:00 am.

More election day stories to follow…..

SW