Note from the Author: I have moved! After 5 and a half years of living in Hartford, I currently live in Windsor CT, in a lovely apartment complex called Windsor Station Apartments. It is in the center of town, and many things are within walking distance. It is a step up from my previous living quarters.

During this time of the year, there are many reasons to drive around to look at the scenery in your neighborhood.  Since it is the height of autumn, it is a good time to see the orange leaves in all their vibrant color before the trees shed them in preparation for winter.  With Halloween in a few days, many people decorate their yards in celebration of the spooky, fun holiday.  So, it is worth gawking at the spider webs, jack-o lanterns, witches, and ghosts that people have in their yards. I myself have two pumpkins and a little bat up on my apartment counter.  I, however, engage in political sign sightseeing.  It is exactly how it sounds.  I drive around and look at the political lawn signs that are in people’s yards and in public places.  With the elections a week away, it is prime season for people to proudly display their candidate affiliations.  I did my first extensive drive around last Monday.  I started in my Windsor neighborhood.

Windsor is a liberal area, so there were many Harris/Walz signs on people’s lawns.  The state representative for the town, Jane Garibay is running for reelection, so I saw plenty of her signs.  Her opponent is Windsor town councilman Len Walker, who is seeking a rematch after losing in 2022, so there were plenty of Len Walker signs as well.  Despite Windsor’s left leaning nature, there were numerous homes displaying Trump/Vance signs.  In addition to candidate signs, there were general political signs that some people displayed on their property. 

After I went apple picking with my friend in Glastonbury Connecticut, I drove around to see how people in that town bedecked their properties politically.  There were more Trump/Vance signs in Glastonbury than in Windsor, including a sign close to the apple orchard that said “Trump Country”, and a Trump/Vance/Kennedy sign.  I finished my political signage drive by in East Hartford, where there were Trump/Vance, Harris/Walz, and signs for State Rep Henry Genga who is running for reelection. 

Trump’s slogan is Make America Great Again, and I saw signs that say that or “Make America Safe again.  But in East Hartford, I saw a more menacing Trump sign: Take America Back.  It made me think: take America back from whom?  The people who had the audacity to vote for Joe Biden in 2020.  Or maybe the hordes of Trans people that supposedly are infiltrating our children, schools, sports and skateboard competitions.  It was a little unsettling, and it made me mad.

While I was looking at the political paraphernalia in my neighborhood, it made me think about instance of people objecting to political signs or even tearing down such signs.  I was thinking about one of my mom’s friends, a left leaning person who uprooted a sign that she didn’t like.  I was reminded about what my former math professor at Daemen College experienced when his Harris/Walz was torn down recently, something that I was became aware of because of his Facebook post about it.  I also thought of Justice Samuel Alito’s wife Martha-Ann Alito.  While the biggest controversy surrounding her involved the upside-down flag that she flew on their property in the days after January 6th, there was also a New York Times story about her having an issue with some left leaning signs that a neighbor had put up on their lawn. 

While my initial reaction to that story was bewilderment and annoyance, it reminded me that there are politicians that I do not like, who have lawn signs.  Maybe I would feel an urge to take them down.  But then I think that those signs are on people’s property, so they are free to display what they want around their home.  For the record, I do not get worked up into a frenzy by signs promoting candidates that I intend to vote against.  I view them as just part of civic life in America, and more broadly a representation of current events in our nation.  So, what I would say to anyone who wants to tear down a political sign is: Don’t.  It is not only vandalism, but also a form of violence, and the last thing we need is more violence in this country.

Comment below on what, if any political signs you display at your homes