What a waste of resources. I have never seen the paper recycle bin so full at the post office as it has been lately. Mostly full of campaign flyers. I add to it daily with all of the various campaign propoganda that I get in the mail.

Also all of these stupid negative TV ads for which I just hit mute or flip the channel.

And while channel surfing I noticed that Obama actually has his own channel on Dish Network of which my remote has always scanned by and never landed on.

I really think that there should be a spending limit on campaign advertising and a reasonable value should be based on the office each candidate is running for. If they cannot get elected using similar funding then they only have themselves to blame and not the lack of funds. Make your points and make them well before your dollars disappear. Campaign spending is ridiculous and wasteful in most cases.

Also, each roadside campaign sign still up 7 days after the election should result in a $500.00 fine per sign to be sent to that candidate for littering. Add "Garbage Sale" signs to that as well.

end-of-line

I remember back in the early 90s, this political solicitor comes up to my front door, an environmental activist, with a sign that has a picture of a clearcut and it says, "Your Colville National Forest, a clearcut shame". I asked him if the paper that the sign was printed on was recycled, and where exactly did the wooden stake to drive into the ground come from?

He turned head and walked away.

In this day and age of modern technology, multimedia, etc. is it REALLY necessary to open the mailbox and have it stuffed with political stuff? There's way more now than I ever remember from my childhood, which was before the advent of the Internet and all these other multimedia outlets of information.

If ad revenue is down 8 percent for the quarter. what is the real picture after the political ads are gone?

My wife and I made a promise never to put up any political signs on our property or even on our van. I think they look tacky.

Since we don't have cable TV and hardly watch TV, channel surfing is a non-issue for us.

However the political flyers we get on a daily basis is a real problem. I know that Obama has done a lot using technology and I think that is the wave of future as far as advertising.

Not sure what the real answer is.

"What is the real picture after the political ads are gone?"

A landslide could happen and they will still holler about it being nip and tuck until the final buzzer. Remember when the big media buried the Clinton primary campaign in electoral math, then just as suddenly called it a horse race? Yeah. Democracy for dollars is a sham.

Brian, your story reminds me of a chestnut in a book by music and recording pioneer, Bernie Krause. He talked about going to George Harrison's house and being lectured at length about vegetarianism. Not a bad way to go, but it is hard to take seriously when you are sitting on a mammoth leather couch.

While I agree all the campaign ads are annoying, the dollars really help the small radio stations. I imagine the biggies can use the money right now too. Keeps my paycheck coming...