Everyone chill out on campaign signs

Date: Sun, 16 Oct 2016 14:18:14 -0400
From: Mike Fox
Subject: Everyone chill out on campaign signs

Every even-numbered autumn a unique type of flora springs up on Chatham County roadsides.  There are apparently a lot of allergies to these flora judging from the amount of upset and anger they spark on the chatlist. For some people, only ones of certain colors and messages trigger those allergies, and which ones seems to vary by person. Ones that are identically sized and placed but of different colors and messages often don’t bother the same people.  But no matter what, by Thanksgiving they are always almost all gone.

I’ve been here since 1999 and during that time been active in the planting and removal of such flora, though my involvement has varied over time. I’ve learned during that time that the quantity and placement of these plants doesn’t really have a significant affect on local outcomes, but it does gives people who are interested in the political ecosystem something additional to bicker over.

Just like the most reasonable response to the rare snow in NC is to simply wait for it to melt, I think the most reasonable response to the every two years outbreak of campaign signs is to wait for Thanksgiving, by which time they will all be gone, apparently of their own accord.

Mike