Not one yard sign or bumper sticker in my Deep red, South Orange County, California neighborhood. I live in the proverbial center of Republican conservatism—Orange County, California. Actually, I live in South County—among the whitest precincts in the State. One toll road sign points the route to my neighborhood as “South, South O.C.” the deepest red and most conservative of Neanderthals. Join the conversation after the squiggle.
It dawned on me today while walking the dog that I have not seen one bumper sticker or yard sign or Romney. I have not seen one over the weekend; and, I would have noticed. There were four signs for Gary Johnson; fourteen signs for Obama and zero for the Mittster. A number of my neighbors have Obama bumper stickers—at least 20 of 190 in the canyon. Many signs offered support for local non-partisan races, but NOT ONE sign for state assembly or state senate Republican. Now, we are in California and there is no question that the state will give its Electoral Votes to Obama.
Nevertheless, something different is happening here. This the first time in my 30 years in this area that there is not one Republican yard sign. Not one. Not one bumper sticker although I counted 20 for Obama.
In 2008, my precinct voted a thin margin for Obama but it also voted in favor of CA proposition 8—largely due to an obvious GOTV effort of the local Mormons who comprise about 10% of the neighborhood.
Does it mean that the Republicans are underground? I don’t know. Why don’t the Mormon neighbors have Romney signs? I do not know. I do know it represents a seismic shift in the Deep South of Orange County away from the GOP. This is a high SES area with a median income of $82,000. Something interesting is going on.