What's your town/city like?<br><br>Seems like there is barely a Kerry/Edwards or Bush/Cheney sign anywhere. Lots of signs for local and state politicians. There is a very popular Re-Elect State representative sign that looks like it is hand made - very catchy. Maybe it's because NH has some 480 State Representatives in the State Legislature.<br><br>Was at town hall today, registering my car. People were lined up for voter registration. There was a cute old lady (in her 80s) with her daughter talking away. "I am going to register as a Republican" she kept on saying. I guess registering as a Republican or Democrat is something of the past. Her daughter kept on saying, "you don't have to register as a Republican or Democrat"<br><br>We don't have a Mayor here in Merrimack, just a Town Manager and a board of Selectman. Town Hall meetings for local decisions are big here. <br><br>Just seems like the Federal election really doesn't matter much around here.<br><br>[color:blue]All your sock puppets are belong to us</font color=blue>

I've worked a couple of short times over weekends in Willmar, MN in the central western part of the state. Driving east on Highway 12 towards Minneapolis, through beautiful, rolling, prosperous farmland, it's 70 miles before I saw my first Kerry-Edwards sign. All Bush.<br><br>

My county is as polarized as the country. The city is almost entirely Kerry. The near suburbs are mixed Kerry/Bush, with Kerry perhaps more frequent. The far suburbs are almost entirely Bush.<br><br>

Here in Ohio, this place is on fire. <br><br>We've got Bush and Kerry signs everywhere, and it's about 60 % Bush. Even in the city, it's about 50/50. <br><br>There's also a sh!t pot ton of local races, as well as state ones. <br><br>Voinovich is running again for Senate, and he'll win by 30 points (even if he dies between now and Tuesday.)<br><br>Our Congressman is running for reelection, and while the Democratic challenger is cute, she'll lose handily. <br><br>We have the "protect marriage amendment,"(banning gay marriage) which will pass with maybe 70-80% of the vote.<br><br>There are quite a few property tax levies, most of which will fail. The schools in Ohio are funded with property taxes, which are already sky-high, and the schools aren't that great either. <br><br>Fire, Police, levy renewals, most of that passes easily. <br><br>Hell, even the Coroner is a partisan race here! <br><br>It's gonna be a rumble...<br><br>

People should really vacation here in Chicago over the weekend. We're pretty isolated from all the political hoopla. Although you do see a John Kerry or a Barack Obama sign every now and again, there aren't many out there. At least there are no big sign wars like I've seen reported in the swing states. Generally, there is very little anxiety. If you watch the local news, you're likely to only two or three political ads in the entire broadcast and they are for the only two contented US House races in the area. (Democrat challengers Bean and Cegalis are trying to knock off long time house veterans Crane and Hyde respectively.)<br><br>I haven't been out there for a week, but my home town of Arlington Heights is pretty heavy on Bush and Keyes signs with a few Kerry and Obama signs out. (Obama probably outpaces Kerry out there.) That's to be expected though. I grew up in a fairly conservative part of Illinois when the state overall was conservative. Now, you can count on the percentage of Bush memorabilia being directly proportional to the median income of the suburb. I get to run out there to vote on Tuesday, so I'll have a better idea of what's going on on the ground out there.<br><br>-- Charlie Alpha Roger Yankee Whiskey<br>