Driving along a red brick road in downtown Bartlett, signs supporting several Democratic candidates hang in the windows and on a porch overhang at Karen and Carl Powell’s studio.
The staunch Democrats say 14 years ago, when they moved into the empty building and renovated it, they knew what they were getting into. Pointing out her mother worked under former Gov. Ann Richards, Ms. Powell said she understands it may look brazen for out-of-towners to come into a small town and support Democrats in such an ostentatious manner, but it’s their nature to let others know where they stand.
“We’re like the lone wolves because we know we’re in Republican territory,” Ms. Powell said. “You might as well just put your signs out and say I believe in what this person is doing.”
To poke fun at Sen. John McCain’s running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Mr. Powell painted a sign, now displayed in the front window, with a red slash across a pair of bright red lips.
That’s not the first time Mr. Powell has used the universal circle and diagonal slash to voice his disapproval.
Shortly after George W. Bush took office in 2001, Powell took his paintbrush to their two-story building’s roof and painted a big black W with a slash through it. He said that the president would sometimes fly over Bartlett on his way to his Crawford ranch, and he wanted to send a message.
Across the street, Dean Roome, a retired pilot who knew Bush when they were in the Air National Guard in the late 1960s, runs an antique shop. He recently hauled a load of McCain-Palin signs back from Republican headquarters in Temple, distributed some, and plastered the others on glass windows for a half block.
“I’m certainly not going to be bashful about supporting McCain,” Roome said. “I’ve always used my window space during the presidential elections. It’s not a rivalry. He puts up nice signs. And I think that’s healthy. We don’t have any kind of rock-throwing contest. We’re all neighbors.”
Over on 41st Street in Temple, next door neighbors for 16 years have opposing political signs about 50 feet apart.
Retired nurse and C-SPAN watcher Lois Sullivan said several weeks ago she gave a volunteer permission to put a Sam Murphey sign in her yard. Shortly, two signs backing Republican candidates appeared in the yard next door.
“It was like a poker game. I’ll see your Sam Murphey and raise you a McCain,” Ms. Sullivan said.
For an hour on Thursday afternoon, Ms. Sullivan and her neighbors, Joe and Gail Piel, stood outside and discussed politics, race, torture, religion and Gov. Palin’s $150,000 wardrobe. They disagreed more often than not, but did it with a smile.
“That’s what America is about. People can have different opinions,” said Mrs. Piel, a NASCAR fan who loves baking. “I think a good debate is where everybody can walk away and still be friends.”
But yard signs aren’t the only way folks back their presidential candidates. Coffee drinkers at local 7-11 stores vote by the color cup they choose for their java - McCain, red and Obama, blue.
Over on West Adams Avenue, the race is tied, but Obama leads at the East Adams and South 57th Street stores. The north store didn’t have any numbers, but a worker said Obama was up there too. (Nationally, coffee drinkers prefer Obama 3 to 2 over McCain.)
If you take that cup of joe down Midway Drive in Southeast Temple, you’ll see big Sheffield and Murphey yard signs staring across the street at each other.
James Roskey, a 79-year-old Obama backer, said campaign workers stopped and asked permission to use his yard, probably selecting the location for its visibility.
“This doesn’t keep you from being neighbors, friends,” Roskey said, looking at the McCain sign across the street. “Different opinions, that’s how it operates.”
