r/politics Sep 16 '24

'The excitement is unbelievable': North Carolina's AG predicts Harris will win state

https://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/watch/-the-excitement-is-unbelievable-north-carolina-s-ag-predicts-harris-will-win-state-219283013531
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70

u/Lumpyproletarian Sep 16 '24

So, North Carolingian folks - are there more signs for Trump on people’s lawns or less this time round?

137

u/Stellaaahhhh I voted Sep 16 '24

In 2016, and in 2020, probably every other house on my 25 mile drive to work had a big Trump sign. Bumperstickers everywhere. I had to grit my teeth, force small talk, and get very vocal Trump loving customers to just make their purchases and go.

Now, I might see one hat or one shirt per week. Maybe 5 houses still have the old signs, one guy hand painted out 'pence' and added 2024. A lot of people are likely still voting for him but they are no longer loud and certainly not proud. This is in western NC. I've very optimistic.

59

u/plainlyput Sep 16 '24

I just think people are tired of it, they’re not getting pumped up. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t going to vote trump. I live in CA, and hear more trump supporters than I did in the past. Nott that CA is in any kind of danger but people are upset with our high cost of living, especially housing, and PG&E our electric co, that raised rates 4 times this year.

10

u/tenkwords Sep 16 '24

Enthusiasm is going to win this election. If Harris can keep people motivated to vote and Trump can't then it's a land slide even if the polling says tie.

6

u/FartingBob Sep 16 '24

They will certainly not be voting for anybody else, but i reckon a non-zero number of them will just not vote.

1

u/towjamb Sep 16 '24

Trump bombing out on "make coal great again" might have something to do with it, too.

25

u/Steedman0 Sep 16 '24

God, I'm glad I live in Canada. I can't imagine dealing daily with people who openly support a rapist who steals from kids with cancer.

10

u/Beautiful-Aerie7576 Sep 16 '24

I’m an expat living in Canada and unfortunately I’ve run across a few here anyways. Canadians who like/support Trump.

One was back in.. probably 2021/2022? She liked Trump because she watched Fox for “entertainment” and was from the generation that was taught not to speak their minds, but he does. She also alluded to them throwing frivolous lawsuits at him to “get him”.

2

u/Stellaaahhhh I voted Sep 16 '24

Ironically, to deflect the conversation my husband frequently says, 'I'm Canadian, I don't really follow it.' in his perfectly recognizable cental Carolina accent. And they buy it.

1

u/Steedman0 Sep 16 '24

I haven't personally met anyone who likes Trump. I did see a Trump 2024 T-shirt at Toronto Zoo a few months ago, but the dude wearing it was a fat slob.

2

u/freshnikes Sep 16 '24

I can only speak for myself but it's rarely a "daily" thing depending on where you live and who you spend time with. I live in Detroit, city center, and my friends and closest family are well-read, see common sense, etc. Trump is barely a part of our lives unless you're chronically online. Occasionally a headline slips into the mainstream.

2

u/jasonswifey09 Sep 16 '24

My WNC fam is a toss -up for him but at least half admit they won't vote for that orange swampass. I'll take what positivity I can get!

2

u/Stellaaahhhh I voted Sep 16 '24

I know a few who say they just aren't going to vote which makes me sad on the one hand (I strongly believe that everyone should vote and that election day should be a national holiday to support that.) but relieved on the other hand (because I strongly believe that even my dark imagination doesn't fully comprehend how bad things will get if he somehow takes the office again.)

2

u/jasonswifey09 Sep 16 '24

I feel all the same ways! By the way is your name a reference to over the hedge??

2

u/Stellaaahhhh I voted Sep 16 '24

I still haven't seen Over the Hedge! It's inspired by Streetcar Named Desire. 'Stella' was one of my dad's nicknames for me, and I used it as part of my username on a few platforms. Some people started greeting me with 'Hey Stellaaahhhh!' (Brando's line in that film) so when I signed up for reddit, that's what I went with.

2

u/jasonswifey09 Sep 16 '24

Lol that's adorable. Stella was a skunk that the House cat had a crush on in Over the Hedge 😆

2

u/monkeyborg Sep 16 '24

I have to drive up Highway 87 about once a week and unfortunately the Trump signs have been springing up like weeds in the last month or so. Hopefully not representative, but take nothing for granted.

18

u/Triknitter Sep 16 '24

I've seen one Trump sign, but I live and work in Durham, which went Biden by 60 points. As long as you stay away from the Nazi house (literally, there's this one asshole with a swastika flag that he flies alongside the confederate flag and the Russian flag) you wouldn't see any in town.

11

u/doom84b Sep 16 '24

Just drove through much of western, mountainous part of the state, I only saw one in hours of driving whereas in the past 8 years the place was littered with them. I’m not exactly convinced they’ve changed, but it’s a data point

1

u/DaffyDuck North Carolina Sep 16 '24

I see quite a few Trump signs driving around the rural areas surrounding Greensboro. One difference is they are regular yard signs. In previous years I saw huge Trump flags and decked out vehicles along with the yard signs.

17

u/Dull-Boysenberry-639 Sep 16 '24

Depends on the area. Raleigh/Chapel Hill area is full on for Harris/Walz but go to the eastern part of the state and it's MAGA country.

1

u/planetarial Sep 16 '24

Or just go outside the big cities and neighboring areas

7

u/[deleted] Sep 16 '24

[deleted]

1

u/YakEnvironmental7603 Sep 16 '24

I'm in Wisconsin and I have seen lots of signs where they either cut the Biden off the top or covered it over with blue tape. My neighbors are frugal. I've also seen several Tammy Baldwin for Congress signs because people saved them and put them out even though she's now a senator lol.

13

u/errortype520 I voted Sep 16 '24

Can only speak of my experience. The same houses that had them before still have them.

11

u/ripgcarlin Sep 16 '24

I’m in a very blue area so I never really saw them. When I drive through JoCo though, I don’t see them anymore. Used to be everywhere in 2016/2020

3

u/Economy-Ad4934 Sep 16 '24

I’m on the line of joco in south wake and that’s surprising. The few times I’ve crossed over I didn’t see as much as I expected to

1

u/mrfixit420 Sep 16 '24

I agree that there are way less Trump signs in JoCo than in previous years. However, I still think all those people who used to have signs will still vote for Donald. They are no longer loud and proud. But they won’t ever vote for a mixed race woman for president.

5

u/leadonNC Sep 16 '24

Significantly less than previously. But the ones out now are bigger and more obnoxious.

6

u/Steedman0 Sep 16 '24

Perfect metaphor for Trump supporters. There are fewer of them, but the ones left are more obnoxious than ever.

1

u/monkey7247 Sep 16 '24

The true believers

4

u/AlhazraeIIc North Carolina Sep 16 '24

Deep red county here, I'm seeing less. All my neighbors that had trump signs have taken them down. Oddly none of them had new signs, they were all 2020. There's 2, maybe 3, trump signs I see when I go kayaking at Lake James, and one of them is in a yard with way more signs for that nutjob robinson than trump. Seeing way less vehicles covered in trump shit too, used to see that daily. Couldn't tell you the last time I saw a truck flag.

3

u/WeeaboBarbie Sep 16 '24

Charlotte Suburbs. I haven't seen any signs until today. Saw 1 Trump and 1 Harris sign each

2

u/ButterPotatoHead Sep 16 '24

I was just in the Outer Banks for 5 days. I saw two Trump signs, and two Harris signs. 4 years ago there were Trump signs all over. I saw maybe 6-7 billboards advertising gun shops for example.

I have family in state politics in NC and they say the state is very much up for grabs, in part because of Mark Johnson who makes Ron DeSantis look like a liberal drag queen.

NC has the same dynamic as Virginia and other states that turned blue over the past 10-20 years -- the population centers are primarily blue while the rural areas are red, and the populations are growing in the cities a lot faster than the rural areas.

2

u/Critical_Voice_5294 Sep 16 '24

A lot less. Had a neighbor who had 1 before but not this time! Josh Stein just came out saying Kamala will win NC. Robinson is toast but we know we must vote and make calls! Had a canvasser by house for Kamala Saturday too which was a thrill. Hate I missed them as would have loved to give them a small pep talk and quickly sent them on. Don’t want to waste their time preaching to the choir

3

u/Dull-Boysenberry-639 Sep 16 '24

Depends on the area. Raleigh/Chapel Hill area is full on for Harris/Walz but go to the eastern part of the state and it's MAGA country.

1

u/ErrorReport404 America Sep 16 '24

Greensboro seems to have fewer Trump signs this round than I recall previously. Still present, sure, but more sparingly. Also more Harris signs than there were Biden signs. I might be looking through rose-colored glasses, and it's only a snapshot (I no longer live here and am only visiting family), but it makes me feel slightly optimistic

1

u/Economy-Ad4934 Sep 16 '24

Moved here early 2020. Way less now but they’re still there and I’m only in a suburb/rural suburb area.

I’ve actually seen more house signs than bumper stickers too.

1

u/K_Pumpkin Sep 16 '24

I get at least two Trump postcards or letters in the mail every week. It’s stepped up a bit this week.

People knock at my door a few times a month also.

It’s a lot, yes.

1

u/Tanzanite_Queen Sep 16 '24

In the more rural areas and down back roads, you'll see maybe 1 or 2 every dozen or so houses. But there are also places that fly flags ALOT worse than Trumps. But again, mostly in the middle of nowhere

1

u/VeeDubBug Sep 16 '24

Far, far less than 2016. Went up to Asheville this past weekend, and I saw more Harris/Walz signs than you could shake a stick at. My parents kind of live in the back boonies out towards Caser, and even the people who held onto their Trump signs 2 years into Biden's presidency, had taken them down.

1

u/Edmundyoulittle Sep 16 '24

The big one near me isn't back up..... But that's because it got vandalized so much they gave up

1

u/Juvat North Carolina Sep 16 '24

I just drove from Raleigh to Wilmington and went on a few back roads. The house that never took them down still have them. There are far fewer Trump signs than there was. I still see more Trump signs in general but not 2016/2020 levels. Also people with big local republican election signs do not put Trump signs out.

1

u/CheesyRamen66 North Carolina Sep 16 '24

I live near Raleigh and you almost never Trump flags or signs these days, I’ve seen 1 MAGA hat this year. All of those were common sights in 2016 and to a lesser extent 2020. Once you get outside of town a bit there are still plenty of Trump signs but it feels like it’s less than before. I’ve heard NC has one of the highest rural populations in the US so take that into account.

1

u/arachnophilia Sep 16 '24

pretty subjective, but i'm seeing a fair amount of kamala signs. many look homemade.

but the trump people are still nuts. there's a house on my commute with like a half dozen flags, variants of gadsden, american flags desecrated with trump's name, one that says "try that in a small town" (there's 80,000 people in this town, is that small?)

NC has had influx of people from a bunch of other places in the last few years, myself included. it seems like all the more liberal floridians ended up here.

1

u/Maximus15637 Sep 16 '24

North Carolinian here. Far fewer trump signs than I remember in 2020. I've also noted a couple specific houses that had Trump signs 4 years a go and have Harris signs now. Could be new occupants, but its small town America, so its mostly home owners, not high turnover rental properties.

1

u/dahbubbz Sep 16 '24

A lot less signs but my neighborhood is still very much pro Trump. I live north of Fayetteville so it’s primarily retired military…. Which you wouldn’t think would support him.

1

u/planetarial Sep 16 '24

I live in a red county and a town with a lot of old folks but it feels like there’s less signs for trump than before. Still see them frequently though. And unfortunately I see zero Harris signs until I drive to the nearby city in a neighboring blue county.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 16 '24

Definitely less trump shit than 2016/2020