Is that political campaign sign on your neighbor's lawn sending a coded message?
During campaign season, lawn signs promoting one candidate or another sprout up in front yards and along city streets. Most people see them and don't think twice – or do they?
There's been discussion on social media that Democratic Albany mayoral candidate Dan Cerutti's lawn signs are sending discreet signals. The chatter is the result of a blue line. Barely noticeable at first glance, the line cuts across the middle of the otherwise orange and black signs.
Online commentators have suggested that the line could signal support for Blue Lives Matter. And the chatter has only become more fervent in a campaign during which some of the most tense exchanges have had to do with police funding. Notably, one mailer suggested that aside from Cerutti, the three other Democratic candidates -- Chief City Auditor Dorcey Applyrs, County Legislator Carolyn McLaughlin, and Common Council President Corey Ellis – have advocated to defund the police. In response, Cerutti’s opponents have questioned the businessman’s Democratic bona fides.
All four candidates have publicly expressed support for Albany’s Police Department.
For his part, Cerutti laughs off the lawn-sign speculation. "The reason we chose the blue line is we went with Albany state flag colors. Anyone who has a sense of history understands that we were originally the Fort Orange settlement. So we wanted to go back to the Dutch history. And then we use white and orange and black, and we needed an accent color. And the obvious accent color is blue, because that's the Albany flag. And we thought it was a nice design element. It's also the Democrat color, and so seemed like a good idea at the time," Cerutti said.
Rob Seyb, Emeritus Associate Professor of Political Science at Skidmore College, said social media commentators may be reading too much into the blue line. Then again, Seyb says the speculation may not be entirely baseless.
"The thin blue line, of course, has been interpreted as maybe, you know, backing police, you know the so called thin blue line, going back to the documentary by Errol Morris, called ‘The Thin Blue Line,’" said Seyb. "But, no, I thought again, you'd have to be pretty, I think, attentive to be able to discern that."
Still, Seyb says, with Cerutti now calling himself a "progressive Democrat" after his opponents publicized the fact that he was a registered Republican when he lived in Texas, discreet coding in the form of a blue line could be a strategic way to appeal to voters of different stripes.
"In this environment or era of hyper partisanship, you know, being too forthright about being a Democrat or Republican can actually turn off voters, even voters who are of your own political party," Seyb said. "They don't want a traditional Democrat or Republican. They want somebody who's more of a free thinker."
If nothing else, Seyb says, the hubbub over Cerutti's signs gives the candidate a little extra media time ahead of the traditionally low-turnout summer primary. Not that it’s likely to affect the outcome.
"Yard signs are usually just seen. You know, I won't say they’re eye wash, but they, they really don't make much of a difference. They're more just kind of a show of affinity, and I think for the campaigns, just a reminder to voters that there is a primary," said Seyb.
Early voting for the June 24th primary begins June 14th. Democratic Mayor Kathy Sheehan is not seeking a fourth term.
