Thoughts on the election: Teddy Kahn on Dog Shit and Competitive Obama-mania

Some of the early criticism of supporters of Barack Obama centered around the impression that there was an over-enthusiastic approach to a man few knew much about - what the nay-sayers could decry as undeserved "hero worship."

One look at some of the imagery seen on some posters and t-shirts, and that impression is at least somewhat understandable. One well-known poster shows the Democratic nominee gazing into the what appears to be the future, depicted in four-stark colors, and eerily reminiscent of the iconography used to depict revolutionary heroes of the past.

In the third written contribution to this site, Teddy Kahn discusses how supporters of Obama in his community made their feelings about the candidate into a competition, as the race to out-Obama fellow supporters has crept beyond dorm rooms and volvo bumpers and into the most visible and public of statements for the American suburbs - they yard sign.

Food critic, soccer hooligan, and bourbon journalist - Teddy Kahn has done it all. Though he presently works at a well-known Washington magazine, we formerly served together in the bilingual journalistic trenches at the luxurious facilities of Chile's own Santiago Times.

Earlier installments:
S.Thompson on "The Business Party"
My Grandmother discusses being a Democrat with only Republican friends

----

I live in Chevy Chase, Maryland, quite possibly the bluest town in the bluest state in the country. My neighborhood is so thoroughly Obamified, in fact, that the only competition this election season has been internal: who among the faithful is the most proud, the most vocal, the most passionate backer of the only real candidate around. This battle has played out largely through the medium of signs.

Starting around February, a serious shortage of Obama signs arose in Montgomery County. The Maryland primary is traditionally a non-event, falling as it does several weeks after Super Tuesday, but this year’s prolonged competition between Obama and Hillary (or, as she was better known in my neighborhood, “that bitch”) threw unexpected attention on what came to be known as the Potomac Primary.

The Obama camp was caught unprepared. Hoards of supporters, eager to advertise their commitment, demanded Obama signs. Local campaign headquarters had none; emergency resupplies were ordered from the national offices. They, too, were quickly depleted. There was talk of a secret bunker hidden somewhere off the banks of the Potomac. As far as I know, no one ever found it.

Fortunately, my mom had connections with a mid-level staffer in our local Rep.’s office, so our yard prominently advocated “Obama For President” – to the envy of many a disenfranchised neighbor. But politics is a dirty game, and some people on our block weren’t happy about being out-Obamed. Our sign lasted a couple weeks, until one morning we woke to find that – by the looks of our barren lawn – we were no longer at the forefront of the glorious march towards Obama victory in the Free State.

Two subsequent signs met similar fates. What was that fate exactly? In an effort to deter future thieves, my mom decorated our third Obama sign with plastic bags full of Golden Retriever shit. It was a pretty bad idea. Associating one’s preferred candidate with dog shit is generally not the message a campaign tries to promote, and as a security measure, it proved worthless: that sign soon disappeared as well. The dog shit scheme did, however, prove to be an effective tracking device. Sure enough, I spotted an Obama sign with a couple tell-tale plastic newspaper baggies still clinging to it, odorously holding forth mere blocks away from our house.

Alas, we were out-witted once again by our fellow Obama supporters. Thankfully, the Obama campaign overcame its initial logistical hurdles in Maryland, and there are now enough signs to go around. The coverage on my street is nearly complete.

What have I learned from all this? That this prosperous, suburban community, thoroughly ensconced inside the Beltway, is voting Democratic this year is certainly not news. But what of decent and level-headed Democrats lowering themselves to Rovian tactics in an effort to “out-support” their neighbors?

Surely this is something new. Montgomery county went for Kerry over Bush 66 – 33 percent in 2004; in 2000 it was 63 – 34 in favor of Gore, but the all-important Chevy Chase yard sign metric was never this skewed. As a matter of fact, it is easier to spot a washed-up 2004 Bush bumper sticker than public acknowledgment of support for John McCain. Which is a little disconcerting, because those Republicans are still out there, and I wonder how they feel living in a community where supporting Obama is taken for granted, and “conservative” is generally spoken in the same hushed tones used to discuss an Alzheimer’s diagnosis or particularly messy divorce. Are they intimidated into silence by an unprecedented proliferation of opposing signs?

But more disconcerting still is the mindset that would drive someone to steal a campaign sign of a candidate whom they support and replant it several blocks away. I’m no right-wing nut (in fact, I consider myself a centrist nut), but I do find the fanaticism of Obama supporters to be troubling. It reflects blind devotion to a cause (“Change!” “Hope!”) without critical examination of its substance. Worse still, the pressure for everyone to just fall in line – so tangible in some parts of the country – speaks to the bias in our political discourse against rigorous, independent thought.

If we elect Barack Obama on Tuesday, I think we will have elected a good man and a strong leader – certainly the better of the two major party candidates. But in the renewed wave of Obama worship that will certainly ensue, I’m going to keep my eyes peeled for the proverbial bags of shit.