i trust bush more

Bumper Sticker Politics

This week I drove through parts of Connecticut, New York, Nerw Jersey, and Pennsylvania and kept my eyes open for Bush and Kerry bumperstickers.

I was surprised to see only one Kerry bumper sticker on this little Blue State tour and that one was taped to the inside of the back window of a BMW – an embarrassingly tepid endorsement.

On the other hand I saw three cars with Bush stickers . . . one of which was plastered with them.

There were lots of generic “United We Stand” type messages and on “Dump Bush” message spotted on my six hour round trip.

Conclusion? Nothing scientific but I certainly expected to see more support for the Democratic candidate consider I was driving through three states where Kerry supposedly has an absolute lock on the vote.

Still, it’s pretty remarkable how such on unscientific survey could reflect what more rigorous public opinion research seems to indicate: that Democrats hate Bush more than they love Kerry and that Bush supporters are committed enough to their guy to deface their automobiles on his behalf.

What about the many generic stickers? I suspect those are the Bush supporters who are cowed by the pop culture BushHate® from coming out explicitly for W but will cast their vote for him when the curtain is closed.

I also had plenty of time to think of new bumper sticker slogans. The best one would be one which is positive, straightforward, and encouraging to undecided voters. Something like this perhaps:

This implies that John Kerry is honorable, patriotic and better able to lead our country in time of exitential challenge than almost any else, but the reason I support President Bush is because I trust him more than Kerry.

Inoffensive, realistic, and resonant with the concerns of people who are voting their hope not their hate.