Taking a break from life in Minneapolis, I'm currently vacationing in Albuquerque (the
Balloon Fiesta is awesome). This includes a road trip across the heartland of America. The trip has taken me south through Iowa, west across Nebraska and south through Colorado into New Mexico. Here I catalog some of my observations along the way.
Observations from the road
Most of the trip was through sparsely-populated farm and ranch country, with the biggest cities passed through being Des Moines, Omaha, Colorado Springs and Pueblo. I saw more Kerry/Edwards bumper stickers in Iowa than Bush/Cheney ones, and very few of either in Nebraska. Being on the interstate I did not get much opportunity to see yard signs.
It was not until the rural areas of Colorado that I started seeing large Bush/Cheney signs prominently posted along the fence lines of ranch land. Getting near Denver (which I skirted), I was surprised at seeing Salazar signs, with maybe only one or two Peter Coors signs along the way. Colorado Springs and Pueblo had a lot of Bush/Cheney signs visible, which is not much of a surprise. The last thing that struck me as I left Colorado via the Raton Pass was how much ranch land was for sale in the southern part of the state. Is it the bad economy, or water shortage? I do not know. But when I passed through that section of Colorado a year ago I did not see so much land for sale.
In Albuquerque
Albuquerque is definitely Kerry/Edwards country. Almost every house that has a yard sign seems to have a Kerry/Edwards sign. Bush/Cheney signs are few and far between. Kerry/Edwards bumper stickers are plentiful as well. I even witnessed someone removing a giant Bush/Cheney sign that had been put up on a fence at a busy intersection. Apparently the business who's fence it was was none too happy, so off to the trash went the huge 6-by-4 foot sign. There are very few Heather Wilson or Richard Romero signs that I've seen, but I have seen quite a number of "Don't Vote for Heartless Heather Wilson" signs. There is an energy here surrounding Kerry's campaign that I don't pick up in Minneapolis. Taking into account all of the signs for local races, it's as if the election is a visceral part of peoples' lives. They seem to understand the importance of the outcome. Minneapolis, by contrast, seems more restrained (yet just as active).
Local media
Albuquerque has recently been added to the growing list of Air America Radio outlets, and local advertising is on the air. The one that struck me was the advert for Bush El Diablo, which bills itself as New Mexico's anti-Bush site. I've also heard a lot of the Operation Truth advert with former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura, in which he refers to the chattering pundits as arguing about something of which they have absolutely no clue.
While there are few yard signs for the congressional battle between Richard Romero and Heather Wilson, the local TV stations have negative ads from both campaigns in heavy rotation. It is a nasty campaign, although Romero's spots tend to come across a bit more positive, in my opinion. The DCCC is running ads to help out Romero, so this must be a competitive race.
Final words
Vacationing during the heat of the presidential election adds an interesting backdrop to what would ordinarily be time away from daily worries. Traveling cross-country as I have has given me a broad view of a part of this country, and I don't think the news is very promising for Bush and Cheney. Where they do have support it seems tepid, and the places that support Kerry and Edwards feel as if a great force has been mobilized to protect the country.
Finally, I'd like to give a plug to Flying Star Cafe, a very neat deli that not only has great food, but provides free wifi access. They also have a stack of NM voter registration forms, which is very cool.