Posts under ‘not really bumpers’

The lapel sticker looks like a shorter form, a kind of political ping, a way of saying “Here I am, and here’s what I stand for.” I see more imagery and simple wording, declarations of support or opposition. A page of lapel stickers for Barack Obama provides an example with its very first sticker – the simple image of the face of Barack Obama, without any words. This sticker tells me that the face of Barack Obama has become an icon, representative of meaning in itself, a powerful cultural symbol that is regarded as needing no explanation.

Nationwide, online measures such as search engine statistics show a lackluster interest in the 2008 presidential campaign. On a national level, many people seem not to care much who the next President is, so long as it isn’t a Republican. Let’s cross our fingers and hope that personal displays of political interest, through objects like this lawn sign, encourages greater citizen participation at the state level.

I was surprised, pleasantly, when I saw the news item from the Kucinich for President campaign entitled, “If you love Joe Biden, you’ll love Clinton, Obama, Edwards, Richardson, and Dodd – but not Kucinich”

The button links the Barack Obama for President campaign to the old story about America’s first President, George Washington. The story goes that, at a critical historical moment in the origin of the United States, Washington was looking at a chair that had, carved into it, the sun on the horizon. He looked at that sun, and asked whether he thought it was rising or setting, a meditation upon the fortunes of the United States itself.

Al Gore has plenty of grassroots support from Americans who recognize the seriousness with which he has argued for the recognition of the issue of global warming. As an author, a speaker, a filmmaker, and producer, Al Gore has shown the skill to persuade through facts, not faith-based shots in the dark.