What Driving Through Ocean County Tells Me About The Election

In work and life I spend a lot of time crossing up, down, and across Ocean County. Something stood out to me in the last few weeks, and I think it says a lot about the country as a whole this election cycle.

While there are some private homes who are displaying signs for their chosen candidates, I'm not seeing nearly the same number of campaign lawn signs that I usually notice.

I think this could say a few things about this election:

People aren't as fired up as in the past - While enthusiastic supporters on both sides are certainly out there, I think that more people than ever are choosing to vote for one candidate or the other by the default of voting for their preferred party, or out of a desire to cast a vote against the other candidate, as opposed to being really excited about their candidate.

People don't want to show public support - Look, we can debate the pros and cons about the candidates all day long, but the fact of the matter is that in public polls, neither are particularly likeable. Much like my previous commentary about cars with political bumper stickers, supporters may be avoiding signage so as not to invite negative attention.

Distaste outweighs support - When we put together both of the previous points, we come to this one. People aren't as excited about this year's candidates because, well, neither are particularly energizing choices. I'm not saying this as a personal opinion, all you have to do is Google "Trump and Clinton unlikeable" and you get pages and pages of results of opinion polls, expert analysis, and unbiased reports. Like I said above, I have a feeling that a lot of people won't be voting for a candidate this year, they'll be voting against the other.

Have you noticed a lack of public shows of support for the candidates in Ocean County this election cycle? Am I just not noticing? Comment below and weigh in!