American
11-17-2007, 02:19 AM
New article coming out of Grant Florida, pretty good. Comments welcome :)
Like anyone else with a front yard, Mike Egerton could have settled for a couple of small, knee-high political signs to express his support for his presidential pick, Republican Ron Paul.
But Egerton lives on U.S. 1 in Grant-Valkaria, on a property that has a 12 foot-by-9-foot billboard. So the 30-year-old carpenter and some friends put together a red-white-and-blue sign for the Texas representative. He said he's gotten a lot of reaction to the billboard in an area that doesn't have that many billboards.
"I hear the honks from the horns when I'm working outside," Egerton said. "I had a couple who were Ron Paul supporters from Barefoot Bay pull over and ask me about the sign. They were impressed that a young person would do something like this."
The property Egerton lives on used to be a clam operation, which is why the billboard was available. His buddies, Russell and Michael Gentile of Melbourne, volunteered more than 40 hours to build the sign and helped Egerton put it up a few weeks ago. Total cost: $400.
"I think it means more than just sending in a campaign donation," Egerton said. "And making it ourselves cost much less than it would to rent a billboard."
But Egerton isn't just relying on his billboard. On weekends, he goes out on the streets on Melbourne with signs for the candidate. He can find people who support Paul's anti-war candidacy and opposition to the Patriot Act, but often they're Democrats or independents, not Republicans. With the Florida presidential preference primary happening Jan. 29, he needs registered Republicans to give Paul a chance in the race.
"They're sketchy about switching parties for the primary, even though they can switch back afterwards," Egerton said.
•10-term U.S. congressman from Texas running for the Republican nomination for president
•Earned 5 percent of last month's Gallup poll, which had him trailing five other candidates
•Raised $4.2 million Monday in an fundraising drive
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2007/nov/17/no-headline-17vronpaul/
Like anyone else with a front yard, Mike Egerton could have settled for a couple of small, knee-high political signs to express his support for his presidential pick, Republican Ron Paul.
But Egerton lives on U.S. 1 in Grant-Valkaria, on a property that has a 12 foot-by-9-foot billboard. So the 30-year-old carpenter and some friends put together a red-white-and-blue sign for the Texas representative. He said he's gotten a lot of reaction to the billboard in an area that doesn't have that many billboards.
"I hear the honks from the horns when I'm working outside," Egerton said. "I had a couple who were Ron Paul supporters from Barefoot Bay pull over and ask me about the sign. They were impressed that a young person would do something like this."
The property Egerton lives on used to be a clam operation, which is why the billboard was available. His buddies, Russell and Michael Gentile of Melbourne, volunteered more than 40 hours to build the sign and helped Egerton put it up a few weeks ago. Total cost: $400.
"I think it means more than just sending in a campaign donation," Egerton said. "And making it ourselves cost much less than it would to rent a billboard."
But Egerton isn't just relying on his billboard. On weekends, he goes out on the streets on Melbourne with signs for the candidate. He can find people who support Paul's anti-war candidacy and opposition to the Patriot Act, but often they're Democrats or independents, not Republicans. With the Florida presidential preference primary happening Jan. 29, he needs registered Republicans to give Paul a chance in the race.
"They're sketchy about switching parties for the primary, even though they can switch back afterwards," Egerton said.
•10-term U.S. congressman from Texas running for the Republican nomination for president
•Earned 5 percent of last month's Gallup poll, which had him trailing five other candidates
•Raised $4.2 million Monday in an fundraising drive
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2007/nov/17/no-headline-17vronpaul/