I have lived in either Salt Lake City or a suburb of SLC since 1994. Utah is probably the reddest of the red states, and while Salt Lake City itself may be pretty Democratic, the rest of the state and the SLC suburbs are usually Republican strongholds. That is why I have been surprised this election at the types of lawn signs I am seeing around the metro area during my commute to work.
During the 2000 and 2004 Presidential elections, Bush/Cheney signs and bumper stickers were EVERYWHERE. You would see an occasional Gore or Kerry sign or bumper sticker, especially by the University of Utah neighborhood called "The Avenues", but they were rare.
This year, however, something interesting is happening. I have seen almost no McCain/Palin signs, in fact, I cannot clearly remember seeing any on any lawn, empty field, etc. I have seen several Obama/Biden signs, and not only in the Avenues, but in my more Mormon, conservative, suburban neighborhood. The same is true of bumper stickers, I can only recall seeing one McCain/Palin sticker, and many more Obama/Biden stickers.
Now I am not deluding myself into thinking that any significant number of the residents of Utah are going to suddenly jump the conservative ship and vote Obama in a stunning turnaround. I do find it very interesting, however, that even here, in the heart of a religious right community (for example, the LDS church is actively campaigning in CA for Prop 8, to eliminate the right for gay marriage), whose residents vote the straight republican ticket with a heated fervor in years past, that there is very little enthusiasm for their top ticket.
The other interesting thing I am seeing is a huge number of signs for my district's State House of Representative election. My district happens to be represented by the Speaker of the House, a republican named Greg Curtis. In my neighborhood, (again conservative, Mormon), there is absolutely OVERWHELMING support for his Democratic challenger Jay Seegmiller, who lost the last election against Curtis by about 20 votes. There are at least ten times the signs for Jay this election than there were last election in my neighborhood, and a casual drive by some other others in my district show the same thing. I haven't seen any reliable polls, so I don't know if the sign support will actually translate into a Seegmiller victory, but I am hopeful.
I decided this year that I wanted to be involved in the whole electoral process, so I have signed up to be a poll manager for my local precinct on election day. I went to my first prep class on Wednesday, and the trainer informed that they are expecting record turnout for this year's election. In 2004, Salt Lake County had 76% turnout of registered voters. They are predicting >80% this year, but there are also record numbers of people registering to vote this year, so the numbers should really be impressive.
Again, I am certainly not predicting a huge Democratic victory in Utah, but I am very encouraged by these trends. While I believe that everyone should vote in the candidate they believe in, I wouldn't be at all disappointed if the indifferent republicans in Utah just stayed home on election day.
What is going on in your neighborhood? Do those of you in conservative areas see strong support for the republican ticket via signage? How about the liberal areas?
Updated: I also forgot to mention that I have actually been seeing Obama/Biden ads on TV! I haven't seen any McCain/Palin ads, and do not remember any democratic candidate ever spending money on ads in Utah before. Many are on the cable channels, but I am pretty sure I saw one on the local stations last night. Very interesting.