Posted on: Friday, July 26, 2002

Political sign-waving: Can it be sensible?

Now that the deadline for filing candidacy papers has come and gone, the season of sign-waving will be fully upon us.

This Hawai'i-style form of grassroots campaigning, usually attributed to the late Honolulu Councilman Charles Campbell, has its charms and its uses.

It lets underfunded, unknown candidates get their face and their enthusiasm out there for everyone to see. And for well-known candidates, it is a way to demonstrate political humility, being out there in the rain, sun and exhaust with the rest of the folks.

But it can get out of hand.

For instance, we fail to see what political point is made by candidates who make use of dozens, sometimes even hundreds, of "volunteers" from unions or elsewhere to line the streets with endless copies of signs.

It's one thing to see the candidate herself, perhaps with immediate family. At least one can get a sense of the person. But it is quite another to see a horde of sign-wavers, many of whom would quite obviously rather be home watching television or walking the dog.

All that shows is the candidate has the clout (usually an incumbent's clout) to generate lots of manpower.

Another problem is location. Most candidates are careful to choose sites where they won't interfere with traffic or cause a dangerous distraction. But not all.

Some have set up shop on busy intersections or corners, where drivers should be fully focused on the road and on pedestrians.

Before the season gets out of hand, can we ask candidates to follow their own voluntary code of sign-waving? Keep the numbers down so the focus is on the candidate, not manpower.

And stay away from busy intersections and other dangerous locations.

After all, that pedestrian whose life is saved just might be a voter.