A John Kerry Sticker Made My Day Today!

[GiovanniC]

I had a Wes Clark bumper sticker on my car until the day he dropped out of the primary and endorsed John Kerry. At that time, I ordered a John Kerry sticker for my car and have had that sticker on my car ever since.

I live in Michigan, which is a so-called "battleground" state, but the area I live in is super-conservative. To make matters worse, I work for a large corporation and most of my coworkers are wealthy and Republican. This area is literally Republican-central. It's so bad that often Democrats won't even run for office here because as soon as they identify themselves as a Democrat, they will lose no matter what their opinions are. If Zell Miller ran for office here, he would lose because he calls himself a Democrat.

Having the Kerry sticker on my car has made me somewhat nervous, because almost no one I work with agrees with my political leanings.

But today, for the first time, I saw ANOTHER Kerry sticker -- in the parking lot of the place where I work. This amazes me and excites me. I'm not alone. There are other Democrats and Kerry-supporters here. I always expected that there were, but figured no one else was brave enough to advertise it on their cars. They had to wait until the political climate was such that you could support Kerry without being excommunicated from society. That time appears to have arrived!

[bleedingheart]

1. You wouldn't live in

Grand Rapids would ya?

Cuz my liberal in-laws live up there and it is republican controlled but I think the layoffs at the banks and Steelcase may have begun to shake some of their supporters...

[GiovanniC]

4. Actually, No

Although I am familiar with both Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo which both tend to trend conservative.

I live about an hour southeast of Grand Rapids. In a town called Jackson. When you drive into Jackson (from any direction), you'll know you're here because you'll run into the big green signs that say, "Welcome to Jackson -- Birthplace of the Republican Party".

The liberal cesspool of Ann Arbor is about 35 miles away -- that's how I keep my sanity.

[1gobluedem]

9. I live in A2

'Cesspool?' I think not :-)

I was at the Ann Arbor Art Fairs on Saturday, the Peace booth and the Kerry booth each ran out of yard signs -- gave away over 3,000. Most of the Art Fair patrons are not local, the locals tend to get the heck out of town for those four days, so I was really impressed and encouraged.

[GiovanniC]

10. Cesspool = Sarcasm

Although that's how A-squared would be referred to around here.

[realisticphish]

16. only a cesspool

beacuse of its association with a small fuzzy woodland creature...;)

:hippie: The Incorrigible Democrat

[GiovanniC]

17. The Woodland Creature Who Could Rip a Man to Pieces?

Giovanni = Wolverine Fan

[realisticphish]

29. lol

realisticphish=buckeye student


:hippie: The Incorrigible Democrat

[bleedingheart]

11. Next time we drive up I will keep my eyes up for those signs

[stavka]

25. Jackson is like a Paris compared to Grand Rapids or Grand Haven

I live in the cesspool

[sbj405]

27. I thought they said Welcome to Jackson, Do not pick up hitchhikers

:hi:

I grew up not far from A2.

[jedicord]

2. We're coming out of the woodwork here in Texas too!

I live in a very conservative part of town, I'm the only Dem in my office. I've been sporting Dem stickers on my car, but haven't seen any until recently. Even the BMW drivers have Kerry stickers!

Gosh, it feels great to see that I'm not entirely surrounded by sheeple!

[Mara Steele]

3. I hear * made a visit to my hometown of Marquette, upstate...

And there were HUGE protests...

I was SO glad to hear that.

I'm in a blue state now, but I still make an effort to compliment everyone on their Democratic yard signs & stickers if I can!

Most people are thrilled and the wave/smile of solidarity is priceless! :hi:

[gasperc]

5. Proudly have a John Kerry sticker here in Troy/Rochester

the GOP can go fuck themselves and if they mess with my car, I'll fuck them up.

[King of New Orleans]

6. Jackson isn't as Repub as you think

It's traditionally Republican like you said, but it's been trending Democratic for some time now. If people organized well on the grassroots level it could flip to the Dems.

Bush only won Jackson 52-46 in 2000

[GiovanniC]

8. Depends On Where You Are

Should I take it from your user name that you don't live here? I don't know how to respond because I'm not really sure what your argument is based on. If it's just election voting stats, they won't tell the full story.

The "inner-city" of Jackson is a bit more liberal than the outlying areas. Jackson as a whole is SUPER-Republican -- I would say it is every bit as Republican as a lot of the South. Now, are there exceptions? Sure. The city can elect a Democratic mayor -- and a poorly closeted gay one at that! -- because the election is based almost entirely on the largely African American inner-city vote. But when it comes to every other elected office from City Council to County Board to state representatives or anything else, it is Republican, Republican, Republican.

Our local daily rag makes Hannity look like Chomsky and I deal with people on a daily basis that make Ann Coulter seem like Dennis Kucinich.

Honestly, I don't think it's a matter of getting out the vote. I think that the strong Democrats here DO vote -- a lot more than the Republicans who don't likely feel that they have to, because everyone around them agrees with their right-wing agenda. No one doubts that the Republicans will win here, so a lot of the Republicans don't vote. That's nice for us Dems, but we don't kid ourselves into thinking that getting close to winning an election means that there are anywhere NEAR the amount of Dems as there are Repubs.

[King of New Orleans]

12. All I'm saying is that in 2000

Gore only lost the county of Jackson 52-46. Granholm only lost Jackson by a couple of thousand votes too. Just like in the South where there are many people who vote Repub for Pres and vote Dem for local offices there are several places in the North that vote Dem for Pres and Repub for local offices.

[GiovanniC]

13. I Invite You To Bring Up Politics ANYWHERE Around This Town

And still tell me this area is trending Democratic.

I realize for practical purposes that won't be easy. But what I'm saying is that the numbers that you're citing do not reflect the reality on the ground. I wish that 46 percent of people in this town were Democrats. I wish that only 52 percent of people in this county were Bush-lovers. But if wishes were horses...

We are lucky in that Democrats probably vote with greater frequency than Republican around here, but a quick browse through the letters in the newspaper or the newspaper's own editorials will show how Republican this town really is. Listening to conversations overheard in the store or in restaurants and bars will show how many people here idolize Bush.

If I had a dime for every time I heard someone around here say we should nuke the Middle East or "turn Iraq into glass", I would have enough money to fund John Kerry's campaign single-handedly.

A few weeks ago my mom was walking into a local business and was approached by a guy getting tons of signatures to make a state amendment banning gay marriage. When she refused to sign the petition, he called her a "fucking dyke." She complained to the business-owners, but their attitude was basically that only a "fucking dyke" wouldn't support banning gay marriage. If I have to boycott any more business for this sort of attitude, I won't be able to leave my house.

Don't get me wrong -- I plan to do everything in my power to get out the Democratic vote. And it might even be possible to round up enough Democrats that Kerry wins this county. But that would be because Republicans aren't voting as much, not because there are any less of them.

The only other possibility is that people who want to nuke Iraq, ban gay marriage, round up all the Arabs and lock them up, close off all the borders, pray and teach the Bible in public schools, ban abortion, rape the environment, screw the poor people, and give tons more money to the wealthy are voting Democratic for some inexplicable reason.

[Arclight311]

15. Jackson IS SUPER Conservative!!!

C'Mon man, you've got the fuckin' 'Nug' livin' right there!!! I may be wrong, but isn't he spokesperson for the NRA??? I believe, Mable, that yes, Jackson is conservative!!!

Tom Russo
Atlanta GA ( And yes, there are DEMS in them thar hills in N. GA!!)

[GiovanniC]

18. He's On Their Board of Directors

And yes, his little "museum" is right here. "United Sportsmen of America".

[bif]

7. Here in Grosse Pointe I've seen a lot of Kerry bumper stickers

and have only seen one Bush one. And this is one Republican area!

[Sweet Freedom]

14. I work in Houston...

and about a month ago, I went out to lunch in The Village where I saw FOUR Kerry bumper stickers in just one parking lot. Not one Smirky/Snarly sticker.

I nearly collapsed from the shock.

[newyawker99]

19. Hi dist22dem!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Sweet Freedom]

23. Thank you! Thank you!

Glad to be here.:grouphug:

[Renew Deal]

20. I put my Kerry-Edwards sticker on the other day.

My area is mixed, but there are some real right wing nuts here (LI, NY). I really like Kerry and Edwards and just sayed screw it. I haven't been run off the road yet.

[NoPasaran]

21. This is a great thread; bumper stickers are important

I smile every time I see a John Kerry or other democratic bumpersticker. I like to think that the stickers on the back of my car brighten others' days as well. And to tell the truth pissing off some wingnuts also has its appeal.

[NeonLX]

22. At the county fair recently...

...we had just stopped by the Democratic party booth on the way out and loaded up on little round "Kerry 04" stickers. We were walking through the parking lot on the way to our car (which has all kinds of Demo/lefty stickers on it) and my wife spied a "Bush/Cheney 04" bumper sticker on another car. She marched right up and affixed the Kerry sticker to the center of "Bush/Cheney" part of the message, which could still be partially read behind the Kerry sticker. Now, this sounds almost like vandalism--but the little round stickers have a fairly weak adhesive on them and it will probably come off the first time the car gets washed. But I'm hoping that the people drive around for awhile before noticing the sticker!

[sistersofmercy]

24. I had one of the first few JK bumper stickers where I live but

I'm seeing them all over St Louis now. In fact, for fun as I'm driving around I try to see how many JK vs W* bumper stickers there are on the road. I'm happy to report there are many more JK bumper stickers than W* ones here.

[hippiegranny]

26. speaking of kerry stickers

i ordered kerry/edwards stickers the day after edwards was announced, 10 stickers for a $25 donation. i still haven't received them, has anyone else here who ordered received them yet? i would love to get that sticker on my car ASAP!

[stavka]

28. I ordered 10 minutes after he was announced.... keep the faith

Called Friday 'cus it had been like two weeks, they said they were shipped on the 20th, and when I got home they were there. ;)

Along with yard signs, buttons, and a really handsome lapel pin.

I suspect they got hit with a TON of early requests - the web site was locking up that morning in fact.