Political signs sprung up in Arlington today, which means of course that we're heading down the home stretch in this election. The question is, will normal people, as opposed to political junkies on and off the blogs, start tuning in now? So far, I've felt very little excitement about this race in Arlington, and Democratic voter apathy certainly has been apparent in Fairfax and Alexandria elections this year. Now, with signs going up, mailers going out, and TV ads probably starting to go on the air, maybe that will change. By the way, with regard to the sign wars in Arlington, I drove around a bit today and saw mostly McAuliffe signs for governor (no Deeds or Moran signs at all that I could see), pretty much nothing for lieutenant governor, and overwhelmingly Parkhomenko signs for delegate in the 47th district. In part, I'm sure that's a result of the police and firefighters, who endorsed McAuliffe and Parkhomenko and are superb at putting signs up quickly. Other than that, perhaps it's a sign of money and organization. One thing's for sure; there's pretty much no way you could live in Arlington and NOT know there's an election coming up on June 9. That marks a big difference from 2005 or even 2006. Perhaps that will mean higher turnout than in 2005 and 2006, but it's all pretty much speculation at this point.
What are you seeing and hearing out there?
P.S. I got an email about the quality (not quantity) of the signs from a...let's call him a keen observer of Arlington Democratic politics.
Ranked by ease of visibility and clearness in telling us who the candidate is:
1. Miles Grant
2. Alan Howze
3. Andres Tobar
4. Adam Parkhomenko
5. Patrick Hope
