For the past few weeks I've been conducting an unofficial count of lawn signs and bumper stickers here in Memphis, TN, and the results have not been very comforting.
Although I have seen very few signs or stickers, maybe a couple of dozen all told, they have all been BC04. I had not seen evidence of a single KE proponent.
This past weekend that changed.
I went to the annual Cooper-Young Festival. It's a free street festival with some 300 or so artists and artisans, from around the country, hawking their wares. There are also a few stages set up with live entertainment.
It's generally attended by 50K or so people and the weather was great so there may well have been more.
The KE GOTV crew were out in full force, and I started seeing people wearing KE stickers and carrying KE lawn signs everywhere I looked. There were various booths selling KE or anti-Bush T-shirts and paraphenalia, but what amazed me was one artist who was selling prints of his artwork with a strong anti-Bush bent to them. This was actual art and not just slogans or cartoons. A lot of effort for what is basically a fairly ephemeral subject.
And to top it off, during my entire time there, I did not see a single pro-Bush or anti-Kerry sentiment.
Now I realize that an arts and craft street fair isn't going to be a hotbed of neocon activity, but it sure felt good to be there.