What Do You Call Hundreds of Campaign Signs in the Dumpster?

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October 6, 2009

What Do You Call Hundreds of Campaign Signs in the Dumpster?

Did you read this Chattanoogan.com entry yesterday?

Phil Spencer, candidate for the Catoosa County Utility District board of commissioners, has filed a police report saying all his campaign signs were stolen.
Mr. Spencer said, "Overnight on Saturday night to Sunday morning, 'all' of our campaign signs have been stolen and removed. These several hundred signs were placed around Catoosa County."

The candidate is offering a $500 reward for information that would help solve this crime. I wonder how much someone got paid to do the deed. Unless it's an extremely personal matter (which is possible in small-town politics), it was likely a cash (or, um, goodies) deal.

I have long felt that campaign signs along streets and roads—not placed in front of a home or business, where they signify literal support—are barely more than litter, so it wouldn't bother me to have them all removed. What does a sign tell you about a candidate, other than his or her name? If you depend on that medium to inform yourself as to who's running, you've got bigger problems.

(Full disclosure: I have planted roadside political signs in the past, but I have since changed my perception of their usefulness.)

But back to the story at hand: is a seat on the county utility district board of commissioners that important? What would motivate someone to carry out this attack? There's probably another chapter to this story.

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