Just had my second campaign sign stolen today. I have two signs at the bottom of my driveway, a Kerry/Edwards and an Al Weed (VA-5 Congress candidate). The first time, only the Weed sign was taken, which I thought was kind of odd, because your typical Democrat-hater is going to go after the Kerry sign or both. But they tell me at Weed HQ that there is speculation some of the Weed sign theft may be apolitical, the result of college kiddies who think it is somehow humorous to have a big sign saying "WEED" on their dorm wall.
Today, though, I was out and got back around 4:30. Both signs in place. Toward 7, got a call from a neighbor, Democrat, who said she had just driven home and saw that the four or five Kerry signs on our road were missing. Not the Weed signs, just the Kerry. This wasn't any dumb college kid, it was some confirmed hater of political free speech.
I live off a rural road in central Virginia, 1/3 up a gravel driveway from the road. It's a road that happens to have a good bunch of active Democrats on it, and this no doubt irks some of the others who drive through.
My wife and I have a stock of Kerry signs, so we took one, got in the pickup truck, and drove down the hill to replace the stolen one. Parked the truck near the end of the driveway with the rear end facing the road, replaced the sign, lowered the tailgate of the truck, got in the bed and sat facing the signs holding a rifle casually across my lap. (Single-shot .22, unloaded, but you're not going to know that driving by.) Just sat there, enjoying the evening breeze, watching a few cars and trucks drive by but none of them slowing suspiciously, until it got dark.
I figure it can't hurt to send a message, and it sure felt cathartic.
I should maybe add that I'm not a hunter, haven't fired a gun at anything living other than a rabid raccoon or injured possum, or many years ago hunting rabbits as a kid. Haven't been in a fight since I was thirteen or fourteen. But there is definitely something about this election that rouses the "I'm not going to take any more of this shit" spirit.
I hope that when Bush supporters say dismissively, "Oh, those Democrats are always angry," they realize that this anger is something much quieter and much deeper than anything they have seen in us before; and that if this election is won by their candidate narrowly and through questionable tactics, it is an anger that will not fade away with time.