"Negative" signs at polling places?

[cjm]

Do you have thoughts about using "negative" home made signs at polling places? I put negative in quotation marks simply because the comparisons I propose would put Mitt Romney in a negative light in my opinion, but I really just mean issue comparison. I can see where negative signs might put people off a bit, but my thought here is that I can remind people of some of the core problems with Romney before they cast their ballots even if they don't want to look at a comparison sheet.

Background: I've run into many people while knocking on doors who say (more or less) that they agree with Ron 80% but are put off by the last 20%. This is Virginia, so the only other choice is Romney. So they agree with Ron 80% -- doesn't that mean they support 20% of Mitt's platform since they are pretty much opposite? And they're voting for Romney? The purpose of canvassing isn't to engage in debate, so I usually make a non-offensive remark without giving any ground and pleasantly end the conversation. I want to ask, "is Romneycare worth that last 20% you disagree with??" But again, you don't argue when canvassing, you move on and play the numbers game.

So, to get my point across, I thought about using items from a comparison sheet to make some signs that I can put up at polling places. For example:

GOA Rating
Ron Paul: A+
Mitt Romney: D-


How will you vote today?
Ron Paul and Free Markets
Mitt Romney and Romneycare

One concern I have is the appeal of homemade signs in a somewhat "establishment" neighborhood. If they don't look good, they could give a "fringe" look that does more harm than good.

This is what I'm thinking about tonight. My state's primary is on Tuesday. If you have thoughts on this idea, or suggestions for sign language, please share. Thanks.

[cjm]

Bump....

With another Idea:

Rasmussen Poll 2/28/2012
Ron Paul 43%
Obama 41%

[sailingaway]

Bump....

With another Idea:

Rasmussen Poll 2/28/2012
Ron Paul 43%
Obama 41%

this

[r3volution]

you will need to look at the laws in Virginia , most polling places have regulations on what you can and cant do near a polling place .

[sailingaway]

you will need to look at the laws in Virginia , most polling places have regulations on what you can and cant do near a polling place .

and that first.

[cjm]

signs are good. must be 40' from entrance, etc, etc. I know I can do signs, just wondering what the RPF gang thought about home made signs that did a candidate comparison. Seems like the pros outweigh the cons to me, but it's always good to get input.

[jbauer]

we did:

Ron Paul love your country fix your governement

Be careful on the paul over obama, didnt romney do 2 pts better in the ruasmen poll?

We were going to make a Ron Paul polls best against Obama but decided not to.

[AhuwaleKaNaneHuna]

Put them all out. The voters are so misinformed. Every last bit of info they can get put in front of them before they vote, the better. This is the voters last chance to learn about Paul and to be able to vote for him. Thanks for doing something to help!!!! :)

[cjm]

Be careful on the paul over obama, didnt romney do 2 pts better in the ruasmen poll?

A quick google says that Romney tied Obama at 44% in the same poll: http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/306941/20120229/ron-paul-2012-rasmussen-poll-beat-obama.htm

Thanks for the input!

[cjm]

Put them all out. The voters are so misinformed. Every last bit of info they can get put in front of them before they vote, the better. This is the voters last chance to learn about Paul and to be able to vote for him. Thanks for doing something to help!!!! :)

Thanks for the input Cindy!

[cjm]

Bump for midnight shift. The locals here think that homemade signs might be off-putting and "fringe." Again, this is a pretty establishment neighborhood. I guess if I'm going to do this I have to make them look good. Any ideas there about constructing good looking signs would be helpful as well.

Here's another sign idea with the bump:




Top Contributors
Ron Paul Mitt Romney
1. US Army 1. Goldman Sachs
2. US Air Force 2. JP Morgan Chase & Co
3. US Navy 3. Morgan Stanley

[Okie RP fan]

Funny how 20% becomes the majority when agreeing with someone... Quite a pathetic line of thought when it comes to those "Well, I agree with Ron on this..." type of people.

Anyway, check local laws, etc. I personally wouldn't. I would post signs that say something like "Ron Paul: the TRUE Conservative" if I were to do such, though. That way, it's a subtle swipe at the others, while promoting our guy.

[cjm]

Funny how 20% becomes the majority when agreeing with someone... Quite a pathetic line of thought when it comes to those "Well, I agree with Ron on this..." type of people.

Anyway, check local laws, etc. I personally wouldn't. I would post signs that say something like "Ron Paul: the TRUE Conservative" if I were to do such, though. That way, it's a subtle swipe at the others, while promoting our guy.

I thought I was being subtle by not saying, "It's ROMNEYCARE M%$#F*@#&!!!!" But yes, the 20% thing kind of derails my logical side. I can only come up with insults, so I keep my mouth shut. The reality is that they probably don't agree with 80% of Ron's positions, they are just trying to please anyone they run into.

With regard to the pro-Ron Paul signs, I have several from the official campaign. They of course look good and professional. I was just wondering if it was worth my while to remind the folks voting for the "safe" choice what they are really getting.

Thanks OK RP Fan.

[Okie RP fan]

I thought I was being subtle by not saying, "It's ROMNEYCARE M%$#F*@#&!!!!" But yes, the 20% thing kind of derails my logical side. I can only come up with insults, so I keep my mouth shut. The reality is that they probably don't agree with 80% of Ron's positions, they are just trying to please anyone they run into.

With regard to the pro-Ron Paul signs, I have several from the official campaign. They of course look good and professional. I was just wondering if it was worth my while to remind the folks voting for the "safe" choice what they are really getting.

Thanks OK RP Fan.

Unfortunately, people are too ignorant. I mean, at the end of the day, do what you truly feel will better the Liberty Movement. If it's home made signs, then do it. If it's official "Ron Paul 2012" signs, carry those. At some point, you're still going to tick people off or not, so, do whatever is most convenient for you.

[cjm]

Bump for day shift.

I guess I'm going to try to make the signs. From my internet searches, paint on cardboard seems to be a popular method. I'm wondering if I can have something printed on paper and then attached to cardboard with photomount or similar. That will probably be more costly, but with luck, look a little more professional. If you have any ideas on construction techniques or sign content, let me know. Thanks.

[Barrex]

A way to go around "pesky" laws: Print it on your shirt. If you are not official you are good to go.

[RonPaul101.com]

Bump for day shift.

I guess I'm going to try to make the signs. From my internet searches, paint on cardboard seems to be a popular method. I'm wondering if I can have something printed on paper and then attached to cardboard with photomount or similar. That will probably be more costly, but with luck, look a little more professional. If you have any ideas on construction techniques or sign content, let me know. Thanks.

What area in Virginia are you working? I will be in Norfolk this weekend.

[cjm]

What area in Virginia are you working? I will be in Norfolk this weekend.

Roanoke City/County

[PolicyReader]

You could also put something together like this:

Want a Republican in the White House?
Vote Ron Paul
Then include the polls that show him rated above Obama in General Polling
and Romney among Independent voters
close with something like This is how we take bake the White House

specifics might need a re-work but you get the general idea :)

[cjm]

Thanks everyone for your input. If you're curious about how it all turned out, here's what we did.

Paint on cardboard would have been the most cost effective way to go, but with the short time period and questionable weather, we went with a marker-based product that we could make indoors. I found some 20"x30" foam board at the local AC Moore which was on sale for $1.50/sheet. I cut them in half to get 2 signs per sheet. I found grading stakes at the local Lowe's store for about $0.50/stake and picked up zip ties to hold them together. We used markers we already had so for about $130 we made about 95 signs.

We used 5 different designs. The "Top Contributors" signs was the most popular among the local grass roots supporters. (the "code" tag is just for formatting here)


Top Contributors
Ron Paul Romney
1. US Army 1. Goldman Sachs
2. US Air Force 2. JP Morgan Chase & Co
3. US Navy 3. Morgan Stanley
Support The Troops!
Support Ron Paul!


G.O.A. Rating
Gun Owners of America
Ron Paul A+
Romney D-
Who do you trust to protect your rights?

How will you vote?
X Free Markets
_ Romneycare
Reject Central Planning!

Rasmussen Poll
Feb 28 2012
Ron Paul 43%
Obama 41%
The Winning Conservative!

Newt? Santorum?
Not on the Ballot!
Vote Ron Paul
Defeat Romney

We assigned the signs to the historically high-turnout precincts the night before the election and got them set up all over the area either that night or the next morning. Was it a successful project? It's hard to say if it changed anyone's vote, but the point of the project was to remind voters of Romney's negatives and quickly address some perceived negatives of Ron Paul. The messages themselves were concise and the signs got made and set out. People read them. So from the point of view that we can only measure ourselves on what we can control, this was a very successful project. Note that we had poll greeters and other operations as well, I'm only judging the sign project here.

The combination of official and homemade signs was impressive enough to draw the attention of the local media. A reporter named Jarett Henshaw <jhenshaw@wsls.com> stopped by my polling location to talk about the RP grass roots operations. I'm not a great extemporaneous speaker so I suggested that he talk to our meetup organizer and he did. He took some shots of my polling place before leaving and you can see me (briefly) standing out front at the 2:07 mark. A closeup of one of the "not on the ballot" signs can be seen at the 2:11 mark.

http://www2.wsls.com/news/2012/mar/06/southwest-va-voter-turnout-terribly-low-super-tues-ar-1745322/

Thanks again for your input.