Yard-sign politicking begins

Councilman Jeff Smith has the apparent early lead in the ever-important yard sign war.

Mayor Jeff Graham, his opponent in the Nov. 8 election, is trying to gain ground in the retail politicking; when we spoke yesterday, he said that he was sorry he couldn't take my call sooner, but he was putting up yard signs (on his campaign blog, Mr. Graham says the yard signs came in yesterday).

I wouldn't discount how important the visibility provided by yard signs really is. When I was in Massachusetts in 2009, I remember driving around the city of Boston and its surrounding suburbs and remarking on how Scott Brown had more yard signs than Martha Coakley did. Mr. Brown, a Republican, ended up beating Ms. Coakley, a Democrat, in a shocking upset for the seat long held by liberal icon Ted Kennedy in the deep blue state. The first sign, for me, was the yard signs.

As you drive around today, you'll notice more Smith signs than Graham signs. But that may not be the case tomorrow or the next day. The mayor has plenty of time to catch up.