Bit of a shocker this evening in Carrboro
Tonight I made the rounds of the major municipal precincts to pick up my Honest Abe “A house divided…” referendum signs. Beyond recovering those and some for various candidates, I also made numerous stops along the way to retrieve others. By the time I hit Carrboro’s Town Hall, I’d already visited 12 polling stations – covered 16 miles – almost filled the bed of my truck.
![](http://citizenwill.org/campaign/images/WhatWouldAbeThink.jpg)
Some signs were drooping from the rain, some had come loose from their staples, some were leaning precariously, some had blown off their stakes but NOT ONE – Republican or Democrat, popular or not – had been maliciously mangled.
And then came Carrboro’s Town Hall. Carrboro, “always one degree cooler” as WCHL’s Ron Stutts says. Carrboro, the Paris of the Piedmont. Carrboro, advertised as a bastion of liberal idealism and progressive profoundity. Carrboro, the only precinct to get two of my homemade signs – placed prominently front-and-center.
Carrboro, where the only signs mangled, torn and completely destroyed were mine.
Will,
Did you stop to consider that placing a Republican icon (Abraham Lincoln) on your signs may have left some with the perception they were part of some vast, right-wing conspiracy to oppose District Representation?
Without taking the time to read any of the smaller text, the most prominent features of the sign is Abe, Vote No Districts, A house divided, and for Democracy. The sign sorta looks like a Republican ploy to oppose District Representation.
Now imagine how that perception might go over in Carrboro, of all places. Perhaps a photo of Gandhi or the WSM dancing man would have been more effective for the Carrboro precincts?
Just my two cents.
Thanks Paul. While I knew Abe was a Republican with a tainted reputation in the old South, I didn’t think of the slant you put on it. Excellent analysis.
Maybe that explains why Carrboro Town Hall was the only place my signs were savaged.
Of course, maybe I was secretly for the proposal and was playing a double bluff ;-)…
Next time I whip up some signs 11:30pm the day before an election I’ll have to put more thought into it…