Yard Sign Catharsis

I just chanced upon a blog of greetings for President Clinton. Of course, he will never see this, but for some reason I felt compelled to put down a few sentences. Unconsciously, I think it was a reenactment my Election Day ritual.

Just as my post will not affect President Clinton, my holding up yard signs on a street corner on Election Day will not affect any votes. However, the exhilaration I feel standing at the intersection of two busy downtown streets while pumping signs in the air and waving, was a complete shock to me the first time I did it. I have been making Election Day a holiday for myself and doing it ever since.

It is cold on an early November morning (at least it is in Denver and Ohio where I have done this; in Denver, however, it is sunny). You show up at a street corner. The first time I did it I was assigned to a corner by my pimp; I mean my party. Since then I have learned that you can just show up wherever the hell you want. I always meet new people, from all parts of the political spectrum, who I know must be feeling the same way. When you stand next to a kindred soul and a person drives by and points at you and honks or gives a thumbs-up, as trite and ridiculous as it sounds, it sends an electric shock of pride through you. You feel freedom. You are democracy.